Remember Me?
by Giggle Angel
Summary: Yes, I killed my character off in the beginning. cliche' right? i wouldn't make it that simple. curious yet? well how about this: this story involves bleeding black roses, blue eyes, imprinting, etc *inspired by Blood and Chocolate & Twilight series*
1. Prologue Where it all starts

Remember Me?

Prologue

It's Not What You Think

I could hear him behind me and he was getting closer. My body was furious and screaming at me, telling me repeatedly that I couldn't run anymore. I was already practically crawling through the Michigan snow in my ripped jeans and the rag that used to be my favorite shirt. As horrible as this all sounds, it was very simple. If he didn't kill me, then the hypothermia would. Fresh shots of pain ran through me with every step I took. I wanted to stop. I wanted to throw up. I wanted this to end. My brain knew even better than my body that I couldn't take the pain. All the while, my heart pounded erratically in my chest as my breath escaped in random, harsh puffs, splitting the air in front of me.

This was it. I was done. The light sound of his footsteps pounded in my ears. He had slowed his pace. He knew just as well as I did that I wasn't going to make it. He paced himself with the patience of a decent predator. He was watching me, mocking me, and I could picture that roguish smile that was surely on his face. My body finally gave in to the fact that there was no sense in fighting anymore and it just seemed to shut off as I dropped. My lungs felt like they were about to burst as I could feel the tiny vibrations of his feet touching the ground. I looked up as he towered over me.

He knelt down beside me and traced the edge of my chin with his finger. His touch stung more than I would've thought it would. His finger was just as cold as the remainder of my body that had managed to keep from going completely numb. The world around me started to fade. He knew this. I felt my eyes close. I forced them open. He bent down and his lips brushed against the piece of ice that was my ear.

"Why did you have to make this harder on yourself?" he hissed.

"I …don't e-even k-k-know y-you."

"And that's why I'm doing this, love, you may not know me, but I certainly know you."

I took in my last breath as it burned its way through my lungs. One cold tear went down my cheek and my eyes closed for the last time.


	2. The Last Day of My 'Life'

Chapter 1

Hours earlier

The beginning of the last day of my 'life'

"So, I'll see you tonight?"

Dominic's voice sounded behind me as I organized my locker. He slipped his arms around my waist and kissed the base of my neck. I closed my locker.

"You know you will. I wouldn't miss this for anything. How often do we get to celebrate our one-year anniversary?"

He thought about this for a second, his arms still around me.

"Um, I'm pretty sure that's a one-time thing."

"Exactly," I said, turning around and draping my arms over his shoulders. "But for now, I have to go to class."

I smiled, slipped out of his grip, and started walking to my next class. I made it to my first period seconds before the bell rang and sat down beside Trisha. She smiled at me excitedly.

"Are you excited about tonight?" she whispered.

"It's no big deal. We're just going to a concert."

"Ladies, the last time I checked, concerts weren't a part of the curriculum. Can you focus, please?"

We looked up at the sound of Ms. Peyton's not-so happy voice. Now, what I don't understand is why is it that when someone has a question, suddenly she can't hear worth anything, but then, God forbid, you talk when she's getting ready to teach and suddenly she has the senses of a hawk? Teachers are a puzzle. But alas, who was I to argue? And thus AP Literature began. Sadly to say, my entire day dragged on like this until I finally made it to Drama, the only class that I could truly expect to break away from the monotony of everyday classes. But, even Drama couldn't fly by fast enough for me today.

I stopped at my house to get ready for the concert. I took a quick a shower and put on my favorite black, lace top and dark blue jeans before going through the special occasion 'teeth, hair, makeup, nails' routine. Finally declaring myself concert-worthy, I grabbed my cell phone and ran downstairs to my car. I rolled down my window and took a few deep breaths. I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes. There was just something about the moment that felt strange to me.

I tried to force myself to calm down. What did I have to be worried about? The concert was going to be amazing. My boyfriend is amazing. Tonight was going to be _amazing_. I pulled into Dominic's driveway and parked my car next to his, honking my horn excitedly. By about the second full minute of this, he finally came out laughing. I stepped out of my car and walked up to his truck.

"Come on. You move so slow," I said as he opened the passenger door for me. He jogged around to the other side and jumped in.

"You know, patience is a virtue."

"Yes, and it's one that I do not possess."

Already bored and even more anxious only five minutes into the trip, I started playing with his radio. All of the commercials on the stations were making me anxious. I finally decided to turn on the CD that Dominic had in and fell asleep for the last thirty minutes of the trip. My legs twitched awkwardly when Dominic finally stopped the truck. I stretched my arms and punched Dom when I caught him laughing at my strange awakening.

The screams of the excited fans could be heard from the parking lot. My heart started to race as we jumped out of his car. Dominic looked down at me and put his arm over my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked. It took him asking that question for me to realize that my heart wasn't just racing, but that I was nearly hyperventilating. That feeling had come back and I guess I was making a face. I snapped myself out of it and smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He stopped walking. "Get on."

"What?"

"Come on."

He bent down and I couldn't help but laugh as I jumped onto his back. He spun around a few times before running to the door. He walked down the hall of the huge arena and found the room that we were looking for: the room to the football stadium. The concert was so large that it had to be held here, but of course, this was a Paramore concert. He let me down so that I could give the man my ticket. We had managed to make it nearly forty minutes early, so the place wasn't too overly crowded just yet. Before we went to our seats, I stopped to buy a bottle of water. At the time, I didn't realize how big of an effect this small event would have on the rest of my life, but halfway through the concert, I leaned over to Dominic and yelled, "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

He nodded. I left. The concert was clearly more crowded by this point, leaving me unaware of the stranger who had followed me through the large double doors. I made it to the bathroom without a problem. Sadly, the bathroom was a pretty good distance from the stadium. I felt a chill go up my spine in the perfectly heated room. The feeling was back yet again, and this time it was overwhelming. I sped up, but it didn't do me any good. I blinked and suddenly I was slammed against a wall. My head collided with an unearthly thud against the concrete, and it took nearly all that I had just to stay conscious. I screamed. It didn't help. I could barely hear it myself as the combination of the screaming fans and blasting music drowned it out.

I struggled to breathe as he put his hands around my neck. Who was this guy? He had perfect crystal blue eyes and unreal features. His black hair was to the side in a shag and that was all that I remember before scratching at that perfect face. I had left a few cuts and his grip was loosened enough for me to get free. There was no way of me getting back to the door. He blocked off that possibility. My only option was to go outside, in the snow, with no coat. It was in the stadium with my half-empty bottle of water and Dominic. Suddenly, I was regretting leaving everything in the stadium. I thrust the door open and ran. He tackled me to the ground furiously laying me out on the frozen sidewalk. Pain shot through me as my knees hit before any other part of me. I tried to reach for whatever was closest but there was nothing but grass and snow with more starting to fall.

He growled at me causing my adrenaline started to pump twice as hard. I kicked until I was away from him and ran full speed. I stumbled clumsily a few times, but kept moving. The question was though, where could I possibly go? The arena was the only building for about a mile or two, and the only light came from the few orange street lights along the roads. The entire area was deserted. There was no point in screaming again because there was still no one around to hear me. Running out of options, I cut through some trees, hoping that he wouldn't be able to see me. I tripped over the decaying roots and broken branches, but stayed standing. The trees were becoming harder and harder to run through as I got closer to the clearing praying that there would be some buildings near there.

My shirt was pulled and ripped by the sharp branches, but I refused to stop. Not now, not here. I broke through the last few branches and my heart sank. There was nothing ahead of me but another empty street. The sound of my heart pumping drowned out everything else but the sound of him behind me. Surely he was faster than this. If he really wanted to catch me then he would have. He had something else planned for me…something worse. I was slowing down. I could feel it. My muscles were screaming at me to stop. I was out of options. He was going to catch me and he was going to kill me. I could hear him behind me and he was getting closer. Sound familiar? It should because now you see how I ended up here, but all of the real fun starts with what happens later.

I sat up screaming. My heart pounded furiously against my ribcage. Everything was bright now and I was coated with snow. What was wrong with me? I screamed again. I felt like my collarbone was on fire. What was going on? I'm dead. I have to be. But why does being dead feel so bad? Fresh tears blinded me as the pain intensified. Why wouldn't it stop? I tried to straighten myself. That made it worse. This _scream_ was the worst. It rang in my ears and echoed in all of the open space. If anyone had possibly heard it, they probably would have been too afraid to see what it was. I blacked out.

Was I dead for real this time? Because dying the first time really didn't feel too good. Maybe this time would be better. The pain in my collarbone was gone, but the pains that I had everywhere else still lingered. I forced my eyes open and looked around. The sun was setting. Was I honestly not dead _again_? What is going on and what kind of sick nightmare is this? I pushed myself up as far as I could manage and looked around at the snow around me that wasn't snow anymore. Now, I was sitting in a puddle. I balanced myself onto my knees and it took me a few times to finally stand. There was something different about me. That was obvious, but I couldn't tell exactly what it was. I took my cell phone out of my pocket. It was ruined. I stuffed it back in my pocket and started walking.

I struggled to remember the path that I had taken last night. The snow crunched quietly under my feet. I looked down and realized that I was bleeding. I had cuts and bruises all over my legs and stomach. From what I could see, I was a wreck. I went back through the trees and recognized pieces of my shirt hanging from a few of the branches. Spots of red caught my attention across the white snow proving that last night really did happen. I crossed my arms as I kept walking. The breeze was actually comforting to me as the arena came into view. Luckily (and unluckily), there were people there. I ignored the stares and walked to the closest pay phone. I guess there was one good thing about buying that water before the concert, I had change left over. Dominic was the first person that I called.

"Hello?"

There was a nervous edge to his voice as I struggled to find my own.

"Dominic? Can you come and g-get me?"

It took the sound of me stuttering to realize that I was trembling.

"Chanelle! Where are you? What happened?"

"I'm back at the arena. Can you come get me please?"

"I'll be there in a second. Don't move!"

I hung up the phone and went back outside. I sat down on the sidewalk, the very same sidewalk that I had been attacked on the night before, just wondering what was the cause of last night. How is it possible that I'm here right now? I mean, I've never died before, but I think I know what it feels like to stop breathing. I hugged my knees to my chest, looking around. People were glancing in my direction, trying to figure out why there was a half-naked teenage girl sitting on a sidewalk in thirty degree weather, but none bothered to actually approach me and see if I needed help. The sleeves and the majority of the V-neck lining were back in the trees while the rest of the shirt was just missing patches here and there.

Dominic whipped into the parking lot with a satisfying screech of the tires. I stood up and he nearly tackled me while I just stood there. He picked me up, probably thinking that I was in too much shock to walk, and put me into the backseat of his truck so that I could lie down with the blanket that he wrapped around me. We rode in silence and I realized once again that I was shivering even in my newly gained warmth. He stopped at my house and sat with me in the backseat instead of getting out. He helped me up and stared into my eyes.

"What happened to you?" he asked quietly. I just stared at him for a second, looking at those hazel eyes, still confused. Finally, I opened my mouth to speak.

"I'm dead."

He stared at me and turned his head to the side.

"What are you talking about? You're sitting right here."

I shook my head slowly, not taking my eyes off of his. "I died last night. H-he… killed me."

He opened the door and picked me up. Obviously he still believed that I couldn't walk, and probably that I was delirious now too. He walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. My mom was there within seconds. She looked like she was about to faint. Dominic carried me in and finally sat me down on the couch. My mom was all over me instantly.

"Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Talk to me! What happened? Where have you been?"

"I'm fine," I managed to say once my mom had calmed down from her hysterics. Well that's not completely true. She never calmed down, but she did stop pounding me with questions long enough to breathe. I looked up as my dad walked in. His face was emotionless. He stepped over to me silently and touched the neckline of my shirt. He moved it to the side and looked truly disgusted. An angry grunt escaped from his mouth as he stormed out of the room. My mom watched him and her breathing sped up. She mimicked my father's movements and examined my neck.

"Thank you for bringing her home, Dominic."

Dominic looked away from me for the first time since we'd been there to stare at my mother. "Aren't you going to call the cops or something? Chanelle went _missing _and came back covered in cuts and bruises! You're not going to do anything about it?"

Still showing her unease she whispered, "We will take care of it and I'm sure Chanelle will let you know when she can."

My mom led the reluctant Dom through the door, locked it, and then came back to me looking even more worried than she had only seconds ago. She stared as if she was debating on what to say to me.

"Go change please," was all that she muttered.

And with that, I was confused all over again. Was there something on my face because they were acting like I had some kind of freakish monster on me somewhere? I walked to my room slowly and pulled off the remains of my shirt, noticing something strange in the mirror. I stepped to my dresser and the glass that sat on top of it, and touched my shoulder. Just below the base of my neck was a tattoo of a black rose that certainly hadn't been there yesterday. I turned, struggling to see more of it. The stem of the rose went from the top of my collarbone down to the edge of my armpit. That was _definitely_ not there yesterday. I focused harder on the rose and it was…bleeding.

There were drops of red etched down from the petals to the tip of the stem and as realistic as it looked, I could tell that it wasn't my own blood.

"Chanelle, come here please."

Fighting the ache of my joints, I threw on a new shirt and a fresh pair of jeans and trudged back to the living room. Stepping into the room, it felt as if the walls were closing in on me with both of my parents looking at me the way they were. They were sitting beside each other at the end of the couch, so I instantly sat on the opposite end.

"We have to talk to you about something," my dad started.

"Um, okay."

"You're going to be going through some…changes over the next couple of days. That rose on your shoulder, it'll let you know when the change is done. Of course, there'll be other ways of telling too."

"I don't understand. You know what this is?"

I touched the rose.

"Yes. We do. That tattoo is going to change. When it blooms, you're going to be a new person. We would've said something to you sooner, but we didn't think that this would happen. It skipped my generation, but I guess it went on to you. This doesn't usually happen to the women in our family."

"I still have no idea of what you're talking about."

"You're going to be what you call a werewolf, or more specifically, a lycanthrope. I know that sounds weird, but there really isn't any other way to put it."

"Excuse me?"

Ha, that's great. I get attacked and he thinks that it's the perfect time to play a joke on me. What a great father I have!

"It's just like I said. That's what's happening to you. You feel really warm, right?"

I nodded. He kept going.

"That rose is bleeding, am I right?"

"Yea, it is."

"Then it's starting."

"Okay, so if this is all true then do all…werewolves…get a rose on their shoulder?" I asked.

"No. Everyone gets something different that displays their connection with nature. If I recall this correctly, you used to have quite an obsession with roses, did you not?"

"Even still, do you really expect me to believe this?"

"No I don't, but all it takes is time. You'll see soon enough."

I slept for the rest of the day and all I could see were those eyes and that face: the face of my killer. I was restless. I guess when he was actually still in my dream instead of trying to kill me, he was somewhat attractive in his own way, but there was something…unrealistic about him. Of course, I couldn't have imagined him, but he just seemed so inhuman, so fast, and so unnatural. All I had to do was blink and he was there, and his skin. It was freezing and so pale. It was practically white, making his eyes stand out even more. They were just so blue and almost hypnotic.

The sound of him growling at me echoed in my ears. His actions were all just so animal-like. He had been the predator and I had been his prey. This made me think of the last words that he had said to me.

_And that's why I'm doing this, love, you may not know me, but I certainly know you. _

His voice had been so ominous and almost seductive as if he was trying to comfort me before killing me. But what had he meant by that? It was pretty obvious to me that I had never seen him before. It would be impossible to forget a face like that. What could he have possibly wanted with me? I was just another girl at a Paramore concert with her boyfriend. And why did he just leave me there? Did he think that I had died, and then lost interest?

Those eyes were practically burning into me now, but I didn't wake up. That was when he disappeared from my nightmare and the rose took his place. That rose, that weird, mysterious rose. What my dad said couldn't be true. I was out pretty hard, maybe somebody drew it. I mean sure, that's pretty unbelievable, but it's just as unbelievable as me being a werewolf.

Red dripped from the rose just like my tattoo. My body jolted forward and my eyes shot open to a sight that I hadn't expected. My sheets were shredded and my mattress was so warm that for a second, I thought that it was on fire. My trembling feet found the floor and led me to my balcony. I leaned against the rail and looked at my hands. They looked perfectly normal. Maybe there was more to this whole werewolf thing than I thought.

"Chanelle, are you awake? Are you going back to school today?"

I could hear my mom's voice from outside of my room. I was still on the balcony. I had woken up on the wooden floor and I wasn't even sore. I stretched, cracking my back a few times. It was still early; the sun wasn't even fully up yet. I absolutely hate Monday mornings.

"I'll go," I called back once I was back in my room. I laid out my clothes before going to take a shower and brushing my teeth. The shower was the worst part of the entire process. The water was only lukewarm but it burned when it ran over my cuts.

I washed my face and stared at my reflection with my nose scrunched. I felt so different but I looked the same. I shrugged off my confusion and went back to getting ready. My hair was next on the morning prep list. I wasn't really concerned with it. I just brushed it out a few times and put it into a high ponytail, letting it hang just above my shoulders. I threw on my plain red shirt and jeans, grabbed my book bag and walked downstairs.

"Hey. Are you sure you want to go back today? You can stay home. I'll just write you a note."

My mom always looked older when she was worried. Any other time she looked younger than her age of thirty-nine. I've always thought that she was really pretty. She had bright, russet-colored skin and black hair that she kept cut just around her neck line. Her face was heart-shaped and I always loved her dark brown eyes. Since the day I was born, I've always been told that I look just like her. There was always that and the fact that, within my family, I was the one known to have the blackest hair and brightest eyes. Of course, my family members weren't the only ones who noticed these features. It always made me laugh when people asked me if I dyed my hair. They never really believed me when I told them that it was natural. And I never thought that my eyes were anything special, but I didn't have a problem with them.

"Do you want me to make you something? You have time."

"I'm just going to grab a bowl of cereal if that's ok."

"It's fine."

I guess I couldn't imagine what kind of effect this was having on her. Her daughter was going to be a monster and there was nothing that she could do to prevent it. I ate my cereal a little quicker than I had meant to and walked outside. The breeze felt amazing and there was even more snow out here now than there was yesterday. I turned to the sound of the door opening a few feet behind me.

"You left your coat. It's freezing out here."

"Thank you," I said. I gave her a hug, put on my coat and got into my car.


	3. Alterations

Chapter 2

Alterations

"Chanelle, are you okay? Do you need to go to the clinic?" asked Ms. Gosha. I looked up at the sound of my name. Judging by the look on her face, I must have looked as nauseous as I felt. The rose had started burning nearly halfway through Drama, and I wanted to scream. It wasn't as bad as it had been the first time, but it was still painful as hell. I took a deep breath.

"Actually, yeah, I think I might need to go to the clinic," I said.

She gave me a pass and I walked out of the room as fast as I could without drawing any more attention to myself. I went straight to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I couldn't believe it. The rose really was blooming. It had been almost completely closed just yesterday and now it was wider with more detail. Bottom line, it was growing. The pain slowly subsided as I splashed water on my face. I tried to keep myself from going into hysterics, telling myself that I just had to make it through this class period and I would be able to go home. I needed to get out of here. I needed air. I needed space.

The walls seemed to move closer as the room started to spin and my stomach started to churn. Too thankful that I was in the bathroom by myself, I bolted into the closest stall and felt the coolness of my skin colliding with porcelain. My stomach lurched. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, so I just sat there dry-heaving, trying to catch my breath. Tears flowed relentlessly as my throat started to throb.

To my surprise, just as quickly as it had come, my queasiness left, leaving me alone on that cold restroom floor.

Carefully and slowly, I forced myself to my feet and went back to the mirror. If I hadn't been so sure that everything involved with the rose had been drawn and not real, then I definitely would've thought that that blood at the tips of the stem was my own.

After rinsing my mouth out repeatedly and chewing a piece of gum, I went back to class and Ms. Gosha kept her eyes on me nearly the entire time.

"Feeling better?" she asked. I nodded and went back to my seat between Sarah and Joseph in the large theatre.

"What was that about? Are you okay?" Sarah asked me quietly. Considering that I had been missing for almost over a day, everyone had heard about it and the stares had been constant the entire day. Eventually, I started ignoring people who asked me what happened. What would be the point in answering them? They wouldn't believe me. I died. How do you explain something like that? I smiled and tried to make it look convincing.

"I'm fine. It wasn't anything serious."

Twenty minutes later, Ms. Gosha had given up on trying to teach us for the day and decided that it would be easier to just let us talk. I sat back as they chatted around me and pretended to not be distracted.

"Did you hear about the new guy?" Ana asked me.

"No I haven't. What about him?"

"How have you not heard about him? The girls here are going crazy over him! Apparently, he's drop-dead gorgeous. But I guess I shouldn't really say anything to you about it. I'm sure Dominic wouldn't appreciate the competition."

"Who says he has any competition?" I asked, raising my eyebrow and smiling.

"You never know. Maybe he will after you see this guy," she said, smirking.

"Have you even seen him yet?" I asked.

"No, but I trust my sources."

"Maybe you shouldn't."

"Yeah, okay. We'll see."

I pulled into my driveway, and my parents' cars weren't the only ones there. A large, red Dodge truck sat in my spot behind my mom's car. I parked beside it and walked in. Laughter hit my ears instantly coming from the living room. A voice boomed loudly that I couldn't recognize, and beside my dad on the couch sat a large boy that couldn't be any older than eighteen. His black hair was cut short and his black eyes were familiar. It took me a second to realize that I was related to this person.

"Damon?"

He looked up at me with quite possibly the most excited grin I had ever seen. He stood up and filled the gap between us in three long strides, picking me up and hugging me tightly.

"Hey Shell, your dad told me. Welcome to the pack!"

He put me down. I stared at him. It was definitely him. He was the only person on the face of the earth who had ever even thought about calling me 'Shell'. He couldn't be talking about what I thought he was talking about though, right?

"What are you talking about?"

He smiled and pushed his sleeve up his arm. There sat a tattoo of an open mouth of jagged teeth, distorted slightly by the lines of his biceps. He moved the collar of my shirt down to look at the rose. He laughed that booming laugh of his. I just watched, perplexed. He had changed so much! I know it had been a few years since I had last seen him, but this was beyond puberty.

"So, you know about…_this_?" I asked quietly. I didn't think that it was possible, but his smile actually got wider.

"Of course I do. I just can't believe it's hitting you so late. We're only a few months apart. But don't worry; it's really not that bad. It gets better. There are some pretty interesting parts to it though. I can't wait to see if you imprint or not. You're dad's not going to like that part of it too much. You want to go for a ride? I can fill you in."

"Sure," I mumbled, while my brain tried to process all that he had just shot at me.

He turned back to my parents. "I'll have her back before midnight."

"Okay, so where do we start with all of this? I'm still having a hard time believing that this isn't just some weird prank that my dad came up with," I said as he drove down the empty road. He wasn't wearing a coat either. I had to admit, that small fact made me feel a little more comfortable.

"Trust me, it's not. It's in your blood. You're the first girl that this has happened to in a while though. Hopefully, you don't mind being around guys. You never used to when we were younger. "

I smiled at the memories. I was the tomboy of my family. I was the one who was always running around with the boys and refused to dress up. That hadn't completely changed these days.

"It doesn't bother me."

"I didn't think it would. And just for the record, you don't need to share this secret with anyone. No one outside of the family is allowed to know."

"Fine," I replied. The idea of not telling Dominic that I died and came back to life to become some mythical creature that really isn't a myth after all didn't really bother me that much. "So, is this only a family affair?"

"Nope, it's not. We have a few guys in the pack whose ancestors were close with our ancestors. It's all really pretty interesting. Josh just got in not too long before you did actually."

"But he's only thirteen, isn't he?"

"Yep, he's the youngest. And for the history, you'll see how that works soon enough. It's kind of fun. It's like taking history without having to go to class. It'll surprise you. Sometimes, you'll just look at things and they'll trigger flashbacks. It's like a movie in your head almost."

"Okay, what were you talking about with the imprint thing?"

He glanced over at me. "You'll know it when it happens to you. It might not even happen, but it's obvious."

My shoulder started to burn again. I scratched at it automatically. He laughed at me.

"It's irritating as hell, isn't it?"

"I would say you have no idea, but that wouldn't be true. So, when do I get to meet the rest of the 'pack'?"

"When you change for the first time."

"Why do I have to wait until then?"

"It's just a safety precaution. Besides, you'll have a better connection with the guys once you've changed. Oh, I guess I should probably warn you now, there's no privacy."

"What?"

"We're in each other's heads constantly. You'll get it. And you might want to cut your hair, at least a little bit. I'm not exactly sure if that will come into play when you change or not."

He stopped in a clearing that was near nothing but trees. The snow was melting under the hot sun. He got out and I followed him. I leaned against the car as he walked further into the clearing. He pulled of his shirt and shorts leaving on only his boxers. It was pretty awkward moment.

"Ready?" he asked me, keeping his voice low. I nodded. He smiled and started to shake. It looked like somebody had sent an electric shock through him as his entire body started to vibrate. It all happened so fast that it was hard to tell what was happening. It was almost like an explosion as fur sprouted all over. One last growl came from his chest before he went down on his four paws and stared at me with dark eyes. As I watched him, I was more impressed than scared. He walked towards me slowly and laid down a few feet in front of me. He turned his head to the side and waited for my reaction. I sat down beside him and played with his fur. It was so soft! He was like a big, breathing, fluffy pillow! I just wanted to sleep on him.

He jumped up, catching me off guard, and grabbed his clothes in his mouth before running off through the trees. I sat and crossed my arms. I could hear a small popping sound and the rustling of branches. He walked out, still pulling down his shirt.

"It's that quick every time?" I asked as he walked back over to me.

"Well, that takes a little bit of practice, and I'm not gonna lie. The first time hurts. But, by the third time, you don't really feel it. It's just natural by then."

"When am I supposed to change? Is there a time limit on it or something?"

He laughed and sat down beside me. "No, there isn't a time limit. It's different for everyone."

"How long did it take you?"

"It only took me a week, but don't compare yourself to me."

"Why not?"

"You are looking at the current alpha male." He said, raising his arms over his head as if he had just won a competition before putting them back down.

"Why you?"

I couldn't help but to sound surprised.

"It's just one of those things. You can't really control it, you just know."

I shook my head. "This is all too much."

"It is now, but it's just the beginning. The fun starts later. You're gonna love it when the strength and speed kick in. And you might get a little taller, but I don't know. I've never seen this happen to a girl before, so you get to be our experiment."

"I'm flattered."

My sarcasm amused him.

"I should warn you though; the guys aren't always on their best behavior. They can be a bit… immature."

"And you aren't?"

"I'm good when I need to be."

"If you say so. Who are these guys anyway?"

"Well, I already mentioned Josh. Brice changed about a month before him and before him was Lance. One of our newer guys is Keith. You two should get along, he just changed for the first time a few months ago. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he goes to your school. His cousin, Kel, changed about two weeks after him."

I sorted through the names in my head. Lance was a more distant cousin of mine, and Brice was as good as a cousin considering how close his family had always been with ours. Keith and Kel were completely new names though.

"That's it?" I asked.

"Yeah, unless somebody else got tatted after you."

"Tatted?" I asked. He pointed at my shoulder and the rose that was on it.

"Did you ever tell anyone about what happened to you the day that you disappeared?"

I leaned back and stared at the clouds. "No, I didn't."

"Can you tell me? I mean, we don't just get tatted for no reason."

"How'd you get yours?" I asked. I wanted to change the subject, but I really was curious.

"I was in a car crash," he said simply.

"But, your car looks fine."

His face looked perfectly serious as he laid back and stared up just like I had done.

"It wasn't _my_ car. I was with my friend. We got hit by some drunk doing ninety on a quiet street. We both died that night. I got tatted…he didn't. The doctors couldn't explain it. I just kept screaming. They thought that the tattoo had already been there and I was in too much pain to tell them otherwise. I passed out and by the time I woke up, the pain was gone and my dad was there to explain everything."

"I sat up and hugged my legs to my chest. He shook himself out of his trance and looked at me.

"Your turn."

"I was killed by some guy that claimed that he knew me. He moved so fast. He led me outside and I didn't have a coat. He chased me and I died in the cold. I guess I just couldn't fight anymore, but it wasn't too bad, because I died before he had a chance to do anything to me."

"What did he look like?" he asked so quietly that I had to struggle to hear his question.

"Dark hair, really blue eyes, and he was really pale."

He stiffened. "Did he have an accent?"

"I think he did. He was kind of hard to hear."

"And he moved really fast?"

"Freakishly fast."

Damon sat up. "Then you, my dear cousin, have encountered your first leech."

"What?"

"He was a vampire. I don't really get why he didn't pull you apart though."

"You're sure about this?"

"He fits the description of one that's been spotted around lately."

"Oh wow," I breathed for lack of better words.

"The guys are gonna be jealous. They haven't even seen one yet and you got tatted because of one."

"Well, if I could trade the way I died then I would."

"Don't assume that. Getting tatted can be a pretty traumatic thing. You had it pretty easy compared to some."

"So…you only get tatted when you die?"

"Usually it's when you're killed, but that's all we've seen so far. And it depends on your blood line too."

"That's not a very happy observation."

"No it's not, but we were all given a second chance, we just have to live up to it."

"What do you mean 'live up to it'?"

"We weren't given this gift just to mess around, we have a job. But it's getting late. We should start heading back."


	4. Blue Eyes

Chapter 3

Blue Eyes

By the time I woke up the next morning, I felt like I had had at least six cups of coffee. I was ready nearly half an hour early and I was starving. I found some chicken strips in the refrigerator and put them into the biggest salad that I've ever made in my entire life. I paced around while I ate, unsure of how to properly work off all of this extra energy. I kept watching the clock. I finished my salad in six minutes but my stomach was still rumbling. Time ticked by slowly as I wondered when I was going to crash from this high.

I fiddled with my phone until it was finally time for me to leave. Picking up an apple on my way out, I told my mom bye before heading to school. All I could think about was seeing Damon change yesterday and the fact that I would be doing that someday. Well, I was thinking about that and the fact that I had been tatted because of a vampire. If I had ever heard anything like this before, I never would've even considered it. In fact, I probably would've rolled my eyes and/or laughed.

I bit into the apple and could feel a difference, but I didn't realize what it was until my tongue brushed against one of my canines. My tooth nearly cut me. I felt my other canines and they even felt a little bit longer. After parking in my usual spot in the school parking lot, I stopped to look at my teeth in the rearview mirror. Both rows looked whiter but they didn't seem like they would be too noticeable.

I smiled and hopped out of my car as quickly as I could considering that my joints were still pretty sore. I looked around once I was through the double doors. At least school hadn't really changed. There were still obnoxiously loud people, people who looked like they could easily fall asleep standing up, people who were rushing to class to make up a test or study, and those people who were just happy to see a new day. The days of simply classifying cliques were nearly over at this school. Cheerleaders hung out with geeks- heck, some of them were geeks themselves- and talked about TV and math. Jocks could be spotted with fellow jocks or the occasional Goth. The possibilities are endless, especially in the off-seasons. Dominic is a perfect example. He's a starter on the football team and he's on the soccer team, but rather than dating the captain of the cheerleading squad or a girl from the soccer team, he dates me. I quit cheerleading after my freshman year and am a complete and total book nerd. But at least now I'm a book nerd that's secretly a werewolf.

"Guess who," I said, holding my hands over Dominic's eyes. He closed his locker and leaned against it as I dropped my hands. It wasn't quite the greeting that I had expected. Worry flooded his eyes.

"How are you feeling? I called you last night and you didn't answer. Did something happen?"

Well other than my quick nightmare, everything was fine. I hardly even remember what it was about. It was cute how he worried though, but according to Damon, he wouldn't have to worry for very long. I wasn't going to be the same, but I was going to be different more physically than mentally.

"I'm fine. I doubt that I'll be disappearing again anytime soon."

That almost seemed to make it worse. I leaned against him and he pulled his arms around my waist.

"You just seem really distant lately. Are we okay?"

Okay, just for the record, caring is cute, confidence is sexy, but insecurity is irritating as heck. A fight was really the last thing I wanted after such a great start to a morning and there were a million mean things swirling in my head. By the time I got to fifteenth bad group of words, I had to keep myself from laughing. Needy is not necessary and I don't have time for it today. Without another word, I slipped out of his grip and started walking to my next class. He called me a few times and finally pulled me back by my hips. He spun me around and put his hands on my shoulders.

"What's wrong? Did I do something?" he asked in a tense whisper. I was debating whether to open my mouth or not. The mean words were still there and they were loud. He stared at me, waiting for my answer.

"No, you haven't done anything, but you're coming dangerously close."

He just searched my face for a second. He looked a little hurt, but my words hadn't been harsh in the slightest in my opinion, especially not in comparison to what I was thinking. He loosened his grip and I started walking to class again. I could feel him watching me, but I didn't turn around. Being honest was for his own good. Besides, it's not like I had broken up with him.

A few hours later, I was parking in my driveway and Damon was waiting for me. I yawned while I stepped out my car. I had burned off most of my extra energy by flying through my work freakishly fast in class. The teachers had been just as shocked as I was when they saw that I had almost all of the right answers. It was so strange. It was like my memory was twice as strong and held four times as much. School has probably never gone by as quickly or as easily as it did today andI told Damon all about it on our way back to the clearing. We sat in the grass and I just rambled on. I leaned back while Damon leaned on his upright knees.

"I felt like such a genius today! Is it normal to be this wired? It's like I chugged energy drinks for breakfast. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been going this fast almost all day today only worse. I almost bit Dominic's head off today though. That wouldn't have been good."

Damon looked down at me. "Why?"

"He asked me too many questions. He was being paranoid. It was so annoying."

I rubbed my eyes and rolled over. The grass tickled and poked at my fingertips. The pretty, green blades were still moist from the melted snow.

"Maybe we should work on your mood swings," Damon said. I sat up and kicked his foot. He stuck his tongue out at me and I returned the favor.

"Is that really what we're doing today?" I asked. He didn't answer me. He just stared at my arm as if he was trying to figure something out and cupped his hand around his chin. He slowly held his finger out and poked my limb. I jerked my arm back.

"What are you doing?" I asked, holding back a laugh. He looked at me and smiled excitedly.

"Have you noticed your arm?"

"What about it?"

"Feel it."

He was practically bouncing. I stared at him and then at my arm before sliding my fingertips down it. There was way more muscle now than there was just a few days ago. The surprise on my face excited him even more. I really hadn't noticed any of it. They were the same size, there just wasn't any fat.

"Stand up," he whispered putting his hands on his face and putting his elbows on his knees. I shook my head. This was the cousin that I had come to know and love. He was humongous and looked like a steroid- filled wrestler, but that eleven year-old that I used to play with in the backyard was obviously still in him.

"What?" I sounded a bit more surprised than I had meant to.

"Just stand up," He said this in a friendly yet firm way. I stood up. "Now run."

"What? Why?"

"You'll see."

His smile never left his face.

"This is crazy," I argued.

"You're going to have to start trusting my judgment."

I guess he was right. He may be my cousin, but that doesn't change the fact that he's the pack leader…I think? Regardless, I was under him. I sighed and started jogging. There was nothing at first until I felt myself pick up speed. That was when the tingling started. It felt like millions of tiny needles were being poked into my legs at once, but not in the painful way. It was more like…acupuncture. Yea, it felt like acupuncture. It was exhilarating and relaxing at the same time. I paid attention to my surroundings for the first time since I'd started running and everything was a blur.

I slowed myself enough to finally stop and I didn't recognize the area. The tingling was still going strong as Damon appeared beside me.

"Fun, isn't it? I have to admit, you were moving pretty fast for this to just be your first time. Come on, I wanna see how strong you are."

"I can't follow you if I can't see you," I said with a smile. It really had been fun and I was anxious to do it again, but it was scary running blind.

"Just focus your eyes," he said in an almost brotherly tone. "It'll get easier once you get used to it. Just keep your eyes on my shirt for right now, ok?"

I nodded nervously and got myself ready. He started at a jog. I mirrored him. I could practically feel him smile just seconds before he disappeared. I picked up speed and the blur reappeared. I tried to focus only on his navy blue shirt. I sped up and my breathing evened itself out naturally. There he was. He was finally starting to look like an actual person rather than just a blurry spot. I tried to push myself and get closer. The tingling intensified, exciting me.

He was slowing down now. I, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. I was getting closer and he was beginning to look more and more like Damon with every step I took. He stopped and turned around, crossing his arms. I had barely slowed down at all. The second I got to him, I felt my breath fly out of me. He had stopped me with just his arm and without even taking a step. He took his arms away from my stomach and laughed as I bent over trying to breathe. I glared at him and that only made him laugh even harder.

"We'll work on your brakes later," he said once we were both breathing normally again. Truthfully, he wasn't breathing hard at all. He looked like he had just woken up from a nap. I was the only one wheezing and I'm pretty sure that he had left a mean bruise on my stomach. I stood up straight and saw that he was walking over to his truck. He looked back at me to make sure that I was watching as he knelt down and gripped the front bumper. He steadied himself and raised the truck effortlessly until the front wheels were by his head, with the back still resting on the ground, before putting it back down carefully.

"Your turn." He laughed at the look of shock that I could feel was plastered on my face.

"You expect me to do _that_?"

"Yeah, I do. It's not as hard as you think. Just relax and let your arms and legs do the work. And I'm here if anything goes wrong. Just think of me as your spotter."

His smirk widened as he said this. This was very much not the same thing as lifting weights. He was talking about picking up this two-ton truck as if it was an everyday thing! He stepped to the side as I walked over to the front. I grabbed the bottom of the bumper and closed my eyes.

"Relax. Take deep breaths and don't think too much about it," he instructed. I tried to do what he said and calmed down. I let my mind wander and all I could see was Dominic. We weren't going to last much longer and it was pretty clear that he knew this. What he didn't realize was that it was his clinginess that was causing the problem between us and that was making him even clingier. I opened my eyes and pushed up. The truck went up quicker than I, and obviously Damon, had expected.

"That was perfect!" he yelled. "Are you sure you haven't done this before?"

"I'm positive," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well, you're making some insane progress. You might just break my record and change before the end of this week."

I lowered the truck and just kind of collapsed. Not only had I just run faster than a car, but I had just lifted one, well the front of it anyway. Wait, can you define a truck as a car? I've never really been completely sure about that. Well, anyway, how many people can say that they did something like _that_ on a Tuesday afternoon? I lied back onto the itchy blades of green and my nightmare hit me like a kid running full speed into a glass door. My heart was pounding painfully by the time that I had sat up and put my face in my hands. It was so… insane! It was just there. I jumped as I felt Damon's hand on my shoulder.

"What was it?"

Of course he wouldn't be surprised by all of this. How could he be? Any normal person would have thought that I was having a conniption, but no, not my pack leader cousin.

"I think it was something about…imprinting."

He sat down in front of me anxiously. "What did you see?"

"It wasn't much, just these _unbelievable_ grey eyes."

He stared at me and turned his head to the side. "You saw who you're going to imprint with?" he asked in a low voice that was directed more to himself than to me, but I answered him anyway.

"I don't know. I'm still not completely sure on what imprinting is."

"Well, I wouldn't know. None of the guys have imprinted and I probably couldn't give you a good enough description of it even if I had. You might be able to get some answers from your mom though. Surely she's heard something about it over the years."

The last thing I wanted to do was have a serious talk with my mom, especially not with all that she's going through. Any wolf talk could wait. But what about boyfriend talk? I mean, this wasn't just a meaningless crush. I had just had a vision of a guy that would quite possibly change my life forever, he was a complete stranger, and I just celebrated my one-year anniversary a few days ago. So where does all of this leave Dominic?

"And you're sure this guy exists?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"You tell me. You're the one who saw him."

"All I saw was his eyes, but I know that I've never seen him before."

"That might be enough. You said he had grey eyes?"

"Yeah, they didn't look real, like he had contacts or something. They were almost clear, but kind of hazy."

This seemed to mean something to him. He looked away from me and off into the trees.

"You don't know this guy, do you?" I asked. He kept staring at the trees.

"No."

"Yes you do! You're still a horrible liar. Tell me who he is."

He started laughing. "I could be wrong. It's just a guess."

"Tell me, please."

"No ma'am."

"Why not?"

"Imprinting is huge if it actually does happen to you and I'm not going to ruin the moment. Now come on, it's getting late and you're running back."

"Why?"

He smiled. "I told you we were going to practice and I can't just leave my truck here."

"But what if I get lost, or I can't stop…or both?"

"I think you can get it and I'll be able to find you if I have to."

I sighed and stood up while he got into his truck. He started the engine while I started jogging. I let the tingling take over again, but made sure that the world wasn't passing by too quickly. I could feel myself slowly getting used to it. My eyes were adjusting to the wind whipping around me and over me. I looked to the side and saw my house grow smaller and smaller. It only took me a second, but I drove my feet into the snow and stumbled to a stop within walking distance of my yard. I sat on the porch and waited for Damon to drive up and roll down his window.

"See, I knew you could do it. Tell the family that I said goodnight." I glared at him, only slightly out of breath this time. Of course, he didn't even flinch. Damon simply smiled and sped off down the street. Feeling the pain starting to form in my thighs and knees, I trudged my way into the house.

"How did it go?" my mom asked the second I stepped through the door. She had tried to convince me that she was okay with the whole wolf thing, but she had seemed on the verge of a heart attack yesterday when I left and came back with Damon. Truth be told, she didn't seem to have made much improvement tonight either. But I guess that's what happens when you think that your oldest daughter has been murdered. And yes, I did mean to say oldest. My little sister, Crystal, is six years younger than me and recently celebrated her twelfth birthday.

My mom named her Crystal because, unlike the rest of us, she ended up with baby blue eyes that stood out with her copper-colored skin. We have no idea how it happened and mom swears that she never had an affair. Of course, none of us would ever assume that of her anyway. She's the sweetest woman on the face of the earth. But anyway…

"It went fine. Damon thinks that I might change soon."

She tensed but tried to hide it by smiling and hugging me. "That's great baby. Are you excited?"

"Yeah, I am."

That was when Crystal walked in the room in her dark blue jeans that she had gotten from me after I found them in my closet and an old tank top that she only wore around the house.

"Chanelle, are you really turning into a dog, or are we going to have to take you to that special place with the padded walls?"

She smiled at me devilishly. Ah, adolescence.

"No, I'm not going crazy, wanna see?"

She and my mom looked at me with their heads tilted to the side in confusion. I looked around and walked over to the table in the dining room. I didn't really want to show off too much, so I only lifted it 'til all four legs were off of the carpet. I turned my head to the side to see their expressions. It had all happened in a split second, but it felt like minutes to me. My mom was starting to drop and I was there to catch her arm while Crystal was still flinching from the sound of the table colliding with the floor. It was clear that neither one of them had expected me to get there that fast. To be honest, it shocked me too.

I practically carried my mom over to the couch while I could feel my sister still staring at me. Ignoring Crystal, I walked to the kitchen to get my mom a cup of water. Her hands shook as she took it from me. I had never really thought that it was possible, but she was actually pale. She looked down and shook her head.

"Damon didn't tell me about this," she whispered, looking back up at me, "what else is supposed to change?"

The look in her eyes broke my heart, but she would have to find out eventually. I was changing and there was nothing that any of us could do about it. It was in my blood and I had already died once in my lifetime if you still want to call it that. I guess this was, in a way, my afterlife, and I didn't have nearly as much room to screw up as I did before. That was becoming more clear now.

"Nothing else is supposed to change other than the obvious and there's a chance that I saw the guy that I'm supposed to be imprinting with or on or whatever you want to call it. Do you know anything about imprinting?"

"Yes. But it's surely too early to talk about now. Do you know this boy?"

"I'm pretty sure I don't."


	5. Afternoon With the Boys

**Chapter 4**

**Afternoon with the Boys**

I sat on my balcony as snowflakes brushed across my cheeks. I was sitting in my favorite purple lawn chair with my arms wrapped around my legs. Smiling, I watched the snow as it melted on my knees and arms. I was hot. Ha! It had been a while since I had last checked my temperature, but I knew that it was at an unhealthy high and I wasn't the only one who had noticed. I could feel the tension in Dominic every time he touched me, but I guess there was something in the back of his mind telling him not to say anything about it.

I stood up and leaned on the railing. For the first time in a while, I actually felt the icy chill of snow on my skin as I put my elbows into a huge pile of the stuff. I shivered, but not from the cold. There was something or someone close by. I'm not completely sure of what it was, but it was moving under the balcony. I could sense it. I looked over the railing, estimating how far of a drop it would be to the ground. Sure, my room was on the second floor, but I was willing to experiment. I threw my leg over the side and just sat there, trying to plan exactly how I was going to do this without completely killing myself. The oak tree. It was pretty sturdy and Damon and I used to climb it all the time when we were younger. The only problem was that the closest branch was a foot or two away. I guess I was about to see just how strong I really was.

I steadied myself on the rail and jumped, grabbing onto the first branch that I could reach. The rustling of the leaves sounded extra loud as the branch swayed from my weight. In hindsight, it might have been smarter to leap for the thickest limb, but that didn't quite seem like an option at the time. The branch bent down low enough for me to drop the last few foot to the ground. I was surprised. That had gone a lot smoother than I had expected. There was a small scratching sound coming from under the balcony and then out came a little puppy. It was so cute! I knelt down and it actually came closer instead of running away. That's when I noticed its leg. There were bite marks all over it. The poor little thing whined as it limped over to me. I couldn't just leave it out in the cold so I picked it up, making sure to be careful of its leg.

I started to run through scenarios of how I was going to get back up to my balcony since I knew that the front door was locked. I could definitely jump to the lowest branch without a problem and I should be able to pull myself up. Hopefully I would be able to do it all one-handed. I put the puppy into my left hand and jumped for the branch, catching it in my right. It didn't take long for me to get back to the same branch that I had started with earlier. The puppy sat in my arm silently. I bounced on the branch a little bit and then jumped back onto my balcony with a loud thud. I had landed on my feet again. This whole lycan thing must have seriously affected my balance because if I would've tried something like that before, I would surely be in the hospital with two broken legs and a broken butt bone.

I slid open the door to my room and sat the puppy on my giant, purple bean bag chair. I flicked on my lamp and took a closer look at the dog's leg. It sat patiently as I lifted its back paw, which seemed to be the only part of the leg that hadn't been chewed on. Standing back up, I went to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a roll of gauze, alcohol, cotton balls, and found a bowl to pour a little bit of water into. The dog started panting at the sight of the water as I set the plastic container in front of him or her on the chair and started working on the poor thing's leg. It was amazingly patient and only flinched when I dabbed the alcohol against its wounds. The poor baby, it was so adorable, and a girl which I soon found out. She was all black with a little white patch of fur on her chest that was the shape of a diamond. This was where I got her name. She ate a few pieces of chicken that I had found in the refrigerator and warmed up for her and fell asleep right before my alarm started buzzing.

She whined and kicked her front paws, but she didn't wake up. Checking on her one last time, I got my clothes together and started getting ready for the day. I felt like doing a little bit extra so I decided to actually put some effort into doing my hair and putting on makeup. Regardless of how I was feeling, when it came to my makeup, I never put on more than mascara, eyeliner, and eye shadow for special occasions. Today wasn't a special occasion though, and I felt that the eye shadow would be too much. I threw on my white, V-neck, shirt and my loose-fitting, light blue jeans. I scrunched my hair while it was still wet from my shower and blow-dried it, letting it drop down my back, curling at the ends.

I walked downstairs and told my mom about Diamond.

"You have a dog in your room…right now?" she asked slowly once I was done explaining. I smiled and nodded.

"Can I keep her?"

"She needs to checked out and, she might belong to somebody."

"I'll find out if she does." I said, looking over my mom's shoulder at the clock on the stove. Fantastic! Now I was running late. I grabbed an apple, rinsed it and yelled 'bye' to my mom as I rushed out the door.

"You made it with two minutes to spare. How do you do it?" Trish asked me as she stood by my locker before lunch.

"I guess I'm just amazing like that."

"You know, I heard the new kid has our lunch period now."

"Since when?"

By this point, I was pretty tired of hearing about the 'new kid', but I was curious to see if he really lived up to all of the hype.

"Something was wrong with his schedule and they finally got it fixed. Let's go. You're gonna love him. He's uber sexy!" she screamed, pulling on my arm and dragging me toward the cafeteria.

"What is it with all of you thinking that I'm going to think that this guy is '_uber sexy'_," I asked, mocking her, "And did you all just magically forget that I have a boyfriend?"

"Stop complaining, we're practically there."

She was still running down the hallway, and when she burst through the metal double doors, I half expected to see a huge mob surrounding the guy, but from the entrance, it looked like business as usual. Trish was scanning the cafeteria as we walked over to the fruit line to get our usual lunches of fruit, chocolate milk, a muffin, and a cookie.

"Where is he?" she kept repeating to herself. We went to our seats by our various classmates and that was when she screamed excitedly.

"I found him! Look!"

She grabbed my face in her hands and twisted my head towards the back corner of the cafeteria. I moved my head out of her grip and kept looking in the direction that everyone else seemed to be staring. A small popping noise sounded in my ears as my teeth clenched together. Those eyes were perfectly clear even from here. What was he doing here? He looked different, less pale. He actually seemed to look normal in the skin tone department. The rose started to burn along my shoulder, forcing me to wince, biting my lip to keep myself from screaming. My canines started to grind into my gums causing blood to slowly flow inside my mouth. I had to get out of there.

"C, what's wrong?"

Trish's voice was faint against all of the things that were working in my mind. There were flashes that I couldn't decipher blinking in and out. I stood up and started walking to the back door. My name was being called, but that didn't matter to me. This was the big moment. I was changing and I felt like I was being strangled. I just couldn't seem to get in enough air here. Once I was through the door, and saw that the courtyard was empty, I ran. The blood was still flowing freely in my mouth, and before I had even realized where I was going, I was collapsing in the clearing. I was on my hands and knees with my mouth wide open coughing the blood out onto the no-longer white snow.

A painful crack echoed amongst the empty trees, and I screamed. My ribs seemed to catch on fire and my heart was struggling to get out of my chest. The few breaths that I could manage came out harsh and ragged, and all I could think at the time was about how this was absolutely the _worst_ kind of déjà vu ever! A warm hand touched my shoulder and Damon's voice streamed into my ears.

"It's okay. I'm here. It's alright."

"H-h-how did you k-know?"

I had a few more questions, but that was all that I could get out through the pain. There was another snap and another scream.

"I felt it. We all know. No more questions."

There was another sickening crack and the shriek that followed was ear splitting. If the sounds wouldn't have come from me, I never would have guessed that they were possible. Damon's hand tensed and dropped from my shoulder and I realized for the first time that thick, black tears were dripping from my face. They blended and fell with the few drops of blood that were still dripping from my mouth to form a nasty, dark shade of rouge. And somehow, it wasn't until I felt the little bristles all over that I realized what was going on. _Now_ I was changing.

The hair on top of my head seemed to spread all over the rest of me. The fur was coming, and it was soothing compared to the rest of the process. I was getting that acupuncture feeling again, only all over rather than in just my legs.

"You have to breathe. It makes it worse if you don't breathe."

By this point, his voice just sounded like an echo, but I did what the echo told me to do and fought to take in one searing breath after another.

"Make it stop," I begged. Damon just watched me, not knowing what to do or say. He dropped in the snow beside me, taking his own advice on breathing. The pain in my cousin's face truly proved to be one of the top three most painful elements of the situation, but it was the last thing that I remember seeing because after that I'm pretty sure that I passed out. Next thing I knew, I was standing and looking down to see that the things that I was standing on weren't my legs. Well, technically they were, they just weren't the legs that I was used to. These were a wolf's legs and paws and claws. I laid down on the grass and snow as Damon crawled around and sat in front of me. I was still panting and the snow was stained red beside me instead of in front of me. Damon definitely hadn't lied when he said that the first time would hurt.

"I guess girls really do mature faster than guys," he whispered unsteadily, running his hand through his hair. "I've got to say, it was a lot harder watching you change than it was with the guys. It just sounded so much more painful for you. Oh, and they're going to be here soon by the way."

This was going to be interesting. I couldn't imagine what the boys looked like now. I couldn't even remember how long it had been since I had seen them. I couldn't even be sure that I would recognize them now.

I felt a mini whirlwind of heat and wind and there they were. Considering the fact that I was still on the ground, the five boys that had just appeared made me feel microscopic. I sat up and they watched me as if I were some exhibit in a freak show. It took me a second to label the familiar faces amongst the giants. Lance was the first one that I recognized. He got his light brown hair and green eyes from his mom's side of the family. All of the boys were around Damon's size except for the one that stood on the end beside Lance, so it didn't take me long to figure out that this was Josh. He may have been shorter than the rest, but he was still pretty muscular. Then again, he could just look that built because his shirt looked to be about two sizes too small. In the back of my mind, I prayed that that was the reason.

Brice stood on the other side of Lance, but I couldn't figure out if the last boy was Keith or Kel. His bright blue eyes eyed me curiously. He bent down to swat at a fly or something near his leg and that was when I noticed his tat. Three sharp claws looked like they were ripping their way out of the thickest part of his calf. I did another quick scan of the boys and tried to find their tats.

Lance's forearm was etched with three leaves. They looked like they had been done in everyday black ink and they were curled like they were moving in a breeze. Brice's tat was on the front of his bicep. I had a hard time believing that I had missed his earlier. It wasn't huge but it wasn't anything short of unbelievable. His tat was of lightning striking. There was no ground but there were streaks of black in the shape of clouds. The realness of the tattoo scared me.

"Hey C, how ya feeling?" Josh asked excitedly. I ended my search there and grumbled. How did he think I was feeling? My bones had just rearranged themselves like a jigsaw puzzle, and I was sure that my mouth was still bloody. I lowered my head onto my crossed front paws and looked back and forth between the guys. The one that I didn't recognize bent down and tried to pet me. I snapped at him. He jerked back seconds before my teeth introduced themselves to the skin of his hand, and not so much to my surprise, he laughed loudly.

"Ha, I like this one. She's gonna be fun. Let's see what you can do."

I turned my head to the side as he started taking off his t-shirt and shorts. I didn't move a muscle, but I could feel Damon shift beside me.

"Come on, Kel. She just changed. Let her rest for a second," he said calmly.

"I'll go easy on her. Besides, she's had a second. I just want to see how _advanced_ she is."

I snorted at his sarcastic emphasis on the word 'advanced'. He had officially triggered my competitive side. The last bit of lingering pain melted away as I sat up. I looked away awkwardly as he started to strip. A small smile crept across his face and the rest was like an explosion. It was almost the same as when Damon had changed; only when Kel did it, it seemed to take longer. He looked pretty adorable as a wolf if you ignored how freakishly sharp his teeth were, and how unusually large he was. His blue eyes stood out in his light brown fur that was already somehow laced with the white snow and small blades of grass. I just watched him as he stretched and realized that I wasn't seeing just him, but what was going on in his mind as well. He was trying to intimidate me by showing me images of what he could do to me. I spread my lips and smiled. This almost seemed to anger him for a second, but he stayed calm.

He crouched down and charged at me. I could tell that he was taking it slow. I moved to the side a second before he reached me and bit his tail playfully. He yipped and then turned on me, but I had already moved to his other side. The guys were watching, laughing, and making bets. There was no way I could take Kel head on. I didn't have to see myself to know that he was bigger than me; that was obvious. But Kel was clearly about speed and strength. We circled each other slowly. I was waiting for him to make his next move and obviously he wasn't very patient. He bounced from left to right, getting himself closer and finally hit me on my left. He had me pinned on my side and he growled into my ear. He was still trying to intimidate me, but one thing that we don't have in common is that I don't plan the majority of the things that I do in life, which is why he was shocked when I bit both of his arms and pushed him off. He was still confused when I knocked him on his back and put my paws on his chest.

I smiled happily before licking the top of his neck and backing off. I started walking and dropped down as he tried to get me from behind. I bit his tail and pulled him down with a thud while he was still in the air. I sat up and chuckled. He got up slowly and sat down in front of me. He was done. One last growl came from his mouth before he grabbed his clothes and ran through the trees to change. That was when I realized that my clothes were in shreds all over the area. Damon noticed my expression and said, "Keith is supposed to be bringing you some clothes."

I clicked my teeth together and lay back down. Kel came back and it was clear that he was still upset. He walked up to me fully dressed and with a bad attitude.

"You know that last part wasn't necessary. You better pray that you didn't leave any bite marks."

He said fiercely. That was when _he_ came. I could feel motion behind me and then suddenly an outfit of mine was being held in front of me. I sat up to see the person who had brought it to me and the first thing that caught my attention were those eyes. It was him. Before I could stop myself, I whimpered. I think gravity just moved. Why was I breathing so hard? When did I start breathing this hard? He was still watching me. Did he think that I was scared of him or something? Being afraid of him wasn't anywhere near the problem. This was the guy and all I could do was stare at those eyes! They were so impossibly pale and clear and strange around the edges as if they were contacts covering his real eyes.

That's when it hit me. He was blind. I shook myself out of it enough to take the clothes in my jaws, but other than that, I was frozen. How did he know that I was right here if he couldn't see me? He smiled calmly. I could feel his pulse from where I was. He must have really thought that I was afraid of him, because he reached out and actually petted me. His hand was so amazingly warm in the best way! I wanted to stay like that forever, but there was a little tiny voice in the back of my head screaming at me that I was too comfortable with this stranger. I jumped back and ran into the trees. Behind me, I could hear Damon laughing as he said, "I was right."

Changing back didn't hurt nearly as bad as changing in the first place, but I still ended up screaming anyway. I ran my fingers through my hair once I had changed into the jeans and t-shirt that Keith had brought me and I could barely get my fingers through. I touched my cheek and pulled my hand back to see it smudged with my smeared makeup. I licked my teeth and spit out blood. The taste was strangely sweet in my mouth. Wiping the edges of my lips, I pulled back red fingertips. I couldn't go back out there like this. I ran to my house and slipped through the trees, onto my balcony and through my glass door. I should really start locking this thing during the day.

It was silent down stairs. Mom must have taken Diamond for a walk or something. I looked into the mirror and had to keep myself from screaming. I looked like I had just committed a murder. My lips, teeth, and gums were all red and there were dried, red drops on my chin. The mascara and eyeliner were worse than I had imagined. I brushed through my hair quickly and rinsed my mouth out. The taste still lingered, but I didn't have time to do a thorough job. I could hear keys in the door and I bolted back out leaving everything the way it had been when I had come in. I walked out into the clearing slowly to see that they were all still there. They all looked at me. I stopped where I was.

"What took you so long?" Lance asked me, but I wasn't paying him any attention. Keith was standing perfectly relaxed with his arms crossed. He was a little bit taller than Damon with wider shoulders and slightly larger arms. He was a beast. His hair was almost as black as mine and in my eyes, he was flawless. I couldn't imagine him changing into a wolf. He looked so innocent compared to the other guys despite the fact that he was easily the largest.

"So…we've already skipped school. We might as well have some fun, right?" Damon asked. I looked away. I was such a dork! I had been staring this entire time! I know I had to have been making him feel awkward, but it wasn't my fault that I was imprinting. I couldn't imagine him being blind, or even what had caused it. My nose twitched and I moved my tongue around in my mouth collecting all of the remaining traces of blood before spitting it into the snow. I looked up and they were all watching me. Awkward.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked Damon, trying to lighten the tension, but he wasn't the one who answered my question.

"What about my place? My parents won't be home for a while."

I covered my mouth to keep myself from screaming or saying anything stupid. For a split second I felt like one of those groupies who have nothing better to do with their lives than listen to whoever it is that they're stalking just to pray that one day he'll say two words. I wasn't sure what I had expected his voice to sound like, but it was nothing compared to what I heard. It would be impossible to imagine a voice like that no matter how hard a person may try.

"Yes! We never go to your place anymore. Let's go!" Josh had already started running with Lance, Kel, and Brice behind him. They were invisible. I crossed my arms as I walked closer to Keith and Damon. I had managed to take my eyes off of him long enough to be distracted all over again by the scent coming off of him.

"C, why don't you walk with me since you don't know where you're going?" Damon asked.

I nodded and Keith took off without another word.

"You knew it was him this whole time?" I asked as we started walking down the road. He frowned and looked straight ahead.

"I only knew when you told me about your dream. I was worried about how this would all affect the pack especially since it's always been just us guys. There's been girlfriends and everything, but there's never been any serious love mixed in."

I felt completely idiotic and embarrassed for asking this question, but I had to know.

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, he does." My heart hit the ground. "And he'll know that you've imprinted on him regardless of whether you tell him or not. I don't know how this is going to work, but just don't make it too obvious right now. I know it's not fair of me to ask, but try not to think about it too much, at least not when you change."

"I'll try. I have another question."

"Go for it."

"Is Keith blind?" I wanted to pound my head into a wall after I had asked but Damon's expression didn't change.

"Yes, he is. You can only tell by looking at him though. He can 'see' just about as good as any normal person; maybe even better. It makes more sense if you have him explain that to you though, not me."

I sighed and started jogging. He mirrored me. "Come on. Show me where this place is."

He smiled and the real running started.

Keith's house was huge! No wonder they liked coming here so often. The house reminded me instantly of a cottage that Snow White and the seven dwarves would live in if they were still around these days, only it was three stories tall rather than super small. There was a small garden in front with rows of all different kinds of flowers growing in it. But it wasn't the house that we were here for, it was the backyard. The house was surrounded by acres of space and there wasn't another house for at least a mile. Damon led me around back and there _he_ stood watching two wolves wrestle. And considering the fact that Brice and Lance were standing with him, it was clear that the wolves were Josh and Kel.

They looked so…so…vicious, and Josh looked so small compared to Kel. They bit and snapped and scratched at each other and the boys were watching as if it was some school fight. I followed Damon and sat down on top of the picnic table that Keith was leaning against. How could they just sit back and watch this? And to think, I was just fighting Kel earlier. Maybe he really had been going easy on me. With the look of the way he was fighting Josh, he could've easily killed me. They separated and started circling each other the way Kel and I had done only Josh wasn't playing with him the way that I had. He roared at him. My baby cousin actually roared at him. I gasped involuntarily and they all turned to look at me. Kel saw this as his opportunity and pounced, slamming Josh hard on his side. I guess my breathing was really as loud as it sounded in my head because Keith turned to look at me and whispered, "Relax, this is all a game to them. We're really fast healers. There isn't much that could really hurt us permanently."

I was staring at him again. He didn't seem to notice. He turned back to the snarling and growling. This time, it was Kel who was pinned. Josh bit his neck once and then backed off. Kel jumped up, but he didn't charge. Keith smiled.

"Alright, time for the main event," he said playfully, "You up for it Damon?"

I turned to my cousin as he smiled excitedly and started pulling off his shirt.

"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for this all week. Think you can actually beat me this time?"

"Don't make it sound like it hasn't happened before."

He started taking off his shirt and shorts. I had to look away. I seriously thought that my heart would explode if I didn't. I heard the popping noises and when I looked in front of me, two large wolves took the places of where the first two had just been. Kel sat on the ground to my right and Josh to my left. Lance and Ben sat down on the bench of the picnic table near my feet. Damon was smaller as a wolf compared to Keith the same way he was as a human. Keith was just as black as his hair and his eyes were just as grey, but not nearly as pale. That was obvious even from where I sat. They circled, waiting for one to make the first move. I crossed my arms and my nails dug into my skin, but I couldn't feel it enough to really care. Damon struck first. He jumped at Keith and bit down on his shoulder.

Keith yipped and shook him off. I didn't know how much more of this I could take. They were like furry wrecking balls as they went after each other causing what should have been insane damage. And they were moving so fast! It was hard to keep up with them. One second they would be circling and then the next…RAWR! The worst part about all of this was that I had no idea of who I was pulling for. On one hand, Damon is my cousin that I've known for my entire life. But on the other hand, Keith is a complete stranger that I would, without a thought, die for. *sigh* Keith. How could he possibly be real? He's amazing! He's perfect! He's taken! Why did fate hate me so much? If nature was going to force me to fall synthetically, indescribably, and idiotically in love with someone, then couldn't the guy at least be single?

Wait. What had happened before I changed again? Why had I changed? Oh yeah, I remember now. Jared was at my school. What purpose could he possibly have for being there? Didn't he already think that he had killed me? Had he still known that I was alive before he saw me today or has he just moved on to his next target? Regardless, he can't stay. A loud thud sounded through my ears and I looked up to see Damon underneath Keith's paws and Keith's teeth were bared and only inches away from Damon's neck. His toothy grin was impossible to misread even from where I was standing.


	6. Chérie Amour

**Chapter 5**

**Chérie Amour**

"So, what exactly was it that set it all off?" Damon asked as he and Keith sat in front of me at the table while the other guys wrestled behind us. I was looking down at my fingers as I traced a circle with my nail.

"You remember that guy that I described to you?"

"The one that got you tatted?"

I looked up long enough to see his expression and then turned back to my hands. He looked perfectly serious.

"Yeah…him, he's at my school now."

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"He goes to my school."

"The leech is at your school?"

"Leech? There's a vampire at our school now? Since when?"

I couldn't help but to look up at the sound of Keith's voice. He was looking in my direction, but not exactly at me. Obviously Damon hadn't filled Keith in about my little adventure during the concert that night.

"Can we not talk about this now?" I pleaded. Keith looked concerned. I despised his girlfriend, whoever she was.

"It's not that simple. You were tatted by a leech. How can you just sit back like it's nothing?" Damon nearly roared at me. I almost didn't know how to react to my cousin's sudden intensity, but after a quick recovery, I held my ground.

"Why shouldn't I? I died. I'm not dead anymore. It doesn't matter."

"It does matter? He could've ripped you apart, but you're still here."

I shivered. "Thanks for the image."

Keith smiled. My heart sped up and judging by the sudden seriousness in Damon's expression, I wasn't the only one who had noticed. I could hear his jaw pop as it clenched and unclenched. Keith turned his attention back to the fight. I glared at Damon and his overly excited expression suddenly came back.

"Why don't you try her out Keith?"

"What?" we both asked. Damon's smile grew even wider.

"She took Kel, maybe she can take you too."

He's completely lost his mind! There was no way that I could possibly 'take' Keith. Not only was he ginormous, but there was no way that I could hurt him intentionally. I wouldn't be able to handle it. Keith's curious expression burned the side of my face as I continued to stare at Damon.

"Are you up for it?"

And there was that groupie feeling again. How could I say no? Hell, how could I say anything? All I could do was nod my head. He stood up and pulled off his shirt, only more hesitant and somewhat more nervous than he had done earlier. I walked around the other side of the house and prayed that I would be able to do this quicker and with a lot less screaming. I stood against the wall with my clothes folded up beside me, thankful for the lack of houses and traffic.

I closed my eyes and tried to make myself change. How was I supposed to do this exactly? It was mental, right? I pictured the night that I died and the vampire that had caused it. That word just seemed so foreign to me, vampire. It was so sci-fi. It wasn't me, and yet there's one trying to kill me and had technically succeeded. Those eyes, that voice and his touch were enough to make me shake, but that was it. At least, that is, until I pictured Keith's eyes, my eyes. There was a snap. I let out a sharp breath and bit my lip, making sure not to slice my gums again. I dropped. Luckily, this time was quicker, but don't get me wrong, it was still pretty painful.

I shook my head as my vision adjusted. I walked back to the backyard to see the guys waiting for me. It still felt a little weird walking on all fours, but it felt a bit natural too. I sat down and stared in the face of the wolf that looked impossibly larger than he did not too long ago, and if this whole lycan thing worked the way it did in my dreams, then he was seeing everything that I was. As I looked around, I was thankful that Kel and Josh had both changed back. I already had enough distractions without them being in my head too. Keith's vision was slowly meshing with mine and leaving a large black spot in my brain. His sight was gone, but his other senses sent completely different messages. From his perspective, I was finally starting to get how his senses painted his vision. It was almost like I could feel everything that he 'saw'.

I tried to clear my head. I didn't want him to know about the imprinting just yet. I just met him. How would he take it? It's not exactly something that you expect. He barked at me playfully. His toothy grin made him look like a deadly yet playful puppy. I was waiting for him to make the first move, but he didn't budge.

'_Ladies first.'_

I looked around for a second like an idiot before realizing that it was his voice that had just echoed in my brain. I refused to do anything to give myself away, so I just shook my head. He tilted his head to the side. I guess he took this as a sign to start, because he growled and charged at me the same way that Kel had. I started to move to the side, but he jumped at the last possible second and we both tumbled to the ground, only he did it more gracefully. It was pretty clear that he was smarter than his cousin when it came to this sort of thing. He had expected me to move. I hadn't thought about it the way Kel had, it was just common sense.

'_Come on,'_ he encouraged, snapping at me. Okay, just for the record, it was very clear at that moment why people have such a problem with dog breath. His mouth was only centimeters away from my nose and he was still breathing pretty hard from the last fight. Safe to say, I had never been this close to him, and under the circumstances, it was pretty awkward. I shook my head again. He bit my shoulder and it stung even though he was barely even trying. I winced and knocked him off. He came at me again, faster this time, but I actually managed to dodge him. I backed up nervously.

'_I know you can do better than this,'_ said the voice coming from the wolf's body, _'You're not even trying. We're fast healers, remember? It's fine.'_

We were both pacing and panting.

'_I can't,'_ I managed to reply in a shaky whisper.

'_Come on. Yes you can.' _At that moment, his eyes seemed to get a little darker as he crouched down. _'I'll scare it out of you if I have to.'_

A growl erupted from deep inside his chest and before I knew what was going on, a sharp pain began to spread from my shoulder and my legs started to buckle. He was leaning on me and he weighed a ton! Of course, the painful biting didn't really help my concentration. I bit his arm unconsciously as it swayed by my jaws, and yanked him off of me. He was stunned for a second, but his excitement was overwhelming.

'_Yes! That's what I was looking for!'_

I backed up. He moved closer. He barked. I jumped. He ran and bit my neck this time, putting his weight back on me. I whined quietly, but didn't move. This was my own personal punishment. I could've seriously hurt him just now. He backed up and confusion practically streamed from his eyes.

'_What happened? You were finally fighting back.' _

I started to shiver with my tail between my legs. He was staring at me, but all I could do was focus on his eyes and at that very second, and it was only a second, he thought the worst possible thing that he could have thought. Apparently, something about my reaction had reminded him of his girlfriend. I was seeing the memories that he had created from time spent with her and she was beautiful. In his mind, she was the definition of perfection just like he is in mine. It had only been a second but it felt like forever. Seeing this girl was like being stabbed with six different knives, having those knives turned at the same time, getting thrown out of the tallest building on earth, and then landing onto a race track in front of the very first car knowing that they're all moving too fast to be able to stop. Yeah, it was that bad.

There was no point in fighting it anymore. With my hesitation and the fact that I hadn't dared to take my eyes off of him or even blink, it was already clear to him that there was something wrong with me. So, safe to say, imprinting took over. My tiny, microscopic bit of self-control was gone and he was seeing it all. And with how strong it was, he was probably feeling a bit of it too. My need to protect him, the power of his scent to my senses, my pain at knowing that I could have hurt him in even the smallest way, the desperateness that was spreading with the fact that he was in love with somebody else, and the irritation that I had for feeling this way towards a stranger; it was all there with even more than anyone could ever imagine. This was the love that people prayed for and hope to someday experience. It was the kind that is often misunderstood or misread and abused. It was the kind that you read about in sappy romance novels or hear about in love songs. True, he was getting a small glimpse of it, but I was convinced that he would most likely never feel it the way that I do.

His eyes exploded into perfect circles and he started to step away from me shaking his head. Trust me, he wasn't the only one scared, he just happened to be more shocked than I was at the time. We were both backing up at this point and I could practically feel the guys' confusion as they watched us. And apparently, that whole 'animals can smell fear' theory is pretty true because his fear was overwhelming. It was so strong that I could practically taste it and the stench was terrible. To me, it smelled like a weird mix between decomposing fish and cigarette smoke. Awful!

At that moment, we both had the same idea. We ran. Neither one of us knew where we were going; we just knew that we didn't want, nor need, to be there. The world was flying past me, the wind was whipping around me and it felt downright intoxicating after that…experience. I couldn't tell where I was, but I didn't stop until I got to a small river. It just seemed so Zen that I couldn't help but stop. I walked over to the water and looked at my reflection for the first time as a wolf. I didn't look like the other guys. My fur didn't reflect my hair, or my eyes. It was simply white. I matched the few traces of frost on the ground that had refused to melt. It was so strange. The color of my fur made my eyes stand out as if they were light brown marbles on a perfectly white carpet.

I shivered. Keith hadn't changed back yet, and his mind was even more cluttered than mine. He was upset. He was thinking about me and about his girlfriend and he didn't care if I was aware of it or not. The rest was coming in too quickly for me to understand. I felt like I was eavesdropping. I needed to get home. It took me a second, and I guess it's kind of like some kind of homing device in my brain, or something, but I knew how to get back. Sadly though, I didn't have clothes, or my key…or fingers. I couldn't turn the knob, and I was pretty sure that I had locked my sliding door this time. What else could I do but to ring the doorbell? I sat down and pressed the button with my overly large paw. Diamond started barking madly from inside the house. She didn't sound very far away and I could hear my mom's slow steps. Seconds later, the door was creeping open and my mom stared at me. Surprisingly, she seemed less shocked now than she had when I had lifted the table.

She moved to the side and let me in. I bolted up to my room and pushed the door closed. I changed back, grabbed the first pieces of clothing that I could find and threw them on before collapsing on my bed. This had definitely been one of my worst days that I've had in a while. The emotional pain just kept coming. On a positive, maybe I would never see Keith again. He had just been so confused and it had been my fault. I had caused it even though I had tried so hard not to. GAH! This all just felt so unnecessary. I looked up at the sound of my mom knocking on my door. I didn't answer, knowing that she would come in regardless. I waited for her to sit down before I started my whining.

"As you saw, I changed today. And with my amazing luck, not only did I change, but I imprinted too."

Diamond walked in and stopped below me beside my bed. She seemed more wary of me and nervous as if she were looking for the giant wolf that had walked in not too long ago. I felt my mom readjust herself as she lay down beside me.

"Who?" she asked. The nervousness still lingered in her voice, but she sounded excited never the less. She was in best friend mode.

"His name is Keith."

"Do you know him?"

"Barely, I just met him. He's one of the guys from the pack."

I hadn't meant to sound as upset when I said that, but my mom noticed it instantly.

"What happened? Does he know?"

"He does now."

"How did he handle it?" she asked, picking Diamond up and sitting her on my bed.

"Horrible and I don't blame him. I'll just have to stay away from him for a while."

"And you're okay with that?"

"I will be. I'm doing it for him."

"And what about Dominic?"

I sighed and put my hands over my face. "I don't know."

"Well, maybe you need to find out before someone gets hurt."

"Yeah, I know. I can't stay with him. Of course, Keith is completely freaked out by me, but…it just wouldn't feel right."

"Maybe you can at least try it," she moved my hands from my face, "and if not, then maybe he'll get the hint."

I sighed and she leaned forward to smooth down my hair. "Imprinting is a big deal, _mon chérie_, and it is one that you're going to have to get used to. You can't get rid of it, but you can make it easier to stand. You'll make this work. I know you will."


	7. Violent Attraction

**Chapter 6**

**Le Fleur Noir**

"Are you sure you're okay?"

We were standing by my locker and that was the fifth time that Dominic had asked me that question since I had met him here after third period. There were a million things buzzing around in my head and the only one that I could focus on was the fact that Keith was somewhere in this school. I hid my face into Dominic's chest. I couldn't stand to look at him when it was clear that I was thinking about someone else.

"It's nothing," I lied. "I'm just tired."

"I heard that you got sick yesterday. Are you feeling better?"

"Not really."

He moved in closer to me and I was gone the second that the bell echoed through the hallways. That moment was the most excited that I had ever been to go to any class. Sadly though, I didn't make it that far. It all happened so fast. One second, I was just feet away from my next class after taking one of my many shortcuts, and then the next thing I know, I'm being slammed into a locker on a deserted hallway. My head hit first and harder than any other part of me leaving me stunned for a minute or two. Everything was blurry and out of place but it was impossible to miss those blue eyes. My favorite vampire was back and it was great to see that he was happy to see me. Yeah, I think not.

He smiled at my pain. I raised my hand, but he slammed it against the locker along with my other wrist.

"Not a smart choice, love," he pressed himself against me and it was a miracle that I didn't form some sense of claustrophobia because I truly felt like a wall was crushing me. He moved his lips to my neck, his teeth brushing against my skin as he spoke, "I don't think that you realize what I could do to you right now. All I have to do is get my teeth the tiniest bit below the surface of your skin and it'll burn pretty bad. But…if I were to actually bite you, the venom would rush through your body and eventually shut down your systems. It hurts beyond imagination, but all you have to do is make a wrong move and you'll get to see what I'm talking about."

As he spoke, my vision started to clear, but my skull throbbed. I was trapped. I couldn't change here, especially not with him holding me and I couldn't risk being seen. I winced as he tightened his grip on my wrist, breaking my train of thought.

"Why are you here?" I asked quietly as he brought his face back up to mine.

"Aw, I'm hurt. I just wanted to see if you remember me," he whispered exaggerated innocence.

He clasped my wrists together in his large left hand and put his right hand over his chest, trying to look upset. I wouldn't be surprised if he had been an actor at some point in his extended life. If the situation were different, then I would think that I had really offended him. He took his hand away from his silent heart and put my hands back onto their separate sides.

"How could I forget?" I asked sarcastically. There was no way that I was going to give him the satisfaction of seeing any fear in me. To be honest, I really didn't have any. I was angry and I could do at least a little damage if I was forced, hopefully. He smiled again. That was when I really noticed his teeth for the first time. His canine teeth were similar to mine, slightly longer than normal, but not enough to bring alarm to normal people.

"I'm flattered, but we have a bit of unfinished business between us. You see, I don't think that you realize just how unique you are. You are the first female of your kind in quite a while. I'm guessing that you don't know of your ancestry?"

I really didn't. I hardly knew anything about my family tree. Heck, if it weren't for me changing, I never would've known about the whole lycan part either. When there was something that my dad didn't want me to know, he would do anything to keep it a secret.

"No, I don't. I'm assuming that you do?"

"Not only did I know her, but I was in love with her. She was given the name Alsoomse at birth, but as she grew, she became known as Aiyana. You see, it's funny because Alsoomse means 'independent', which she clearly proved to be for the entire time that I knew her. However, Aiyana, meaning 'eternal bloom', came to fit her far better. Her tribe was very wise. They knew what she was meant to become before she was even born. Her mother was the first female of their tribe to change and her father was the strongest of the males. Her parents were meant to be together and she was destined for near invulnerability. Her genes were perfect, making her both feared and desired. They all believed that she would serve as the perfect mother and wife to any man who was worthy and few believed that they were. Everyone in her tribe knew of her story.

"Of course… I wasn't part of the tribe. At the time, I was the fourteen-year old son of an explorer and the main nurse of the village that was left behind once my father heard of the discovery of 'the new world'. They knew me as Jared Hartman. Aiyana and I met not too long after my family's arrival. My parents and I, along with a third of our village, had ventured out, ready to start fresh on the new lands. Aiyana and her father were two of the first to officially introduce themselves to us. We got to know each other for a few years until I died at the age of nineteen. Everything changed then. She broke my heart, you know?"

"How would I know that if I haven't even heard of her? And I didn't know that you even had a heart."

He chuckled. "Well, it may not beat, but I have one."

"If it doesn't beat, then why do you look the way you do? There's no blood going through you're veins."

He smiled even harder at this question and started playing with my fingers. "Think of it as a type of camouflage. I blend in with the students here. Surprisingly, people pay money to get this kind of skin tone. It's alluring and I'm a predator looking for easy prey. Of course, that's only to occupy me until I get to you."

A guttural snarl erupted from deep in my chest and I bared my teeth. He only laughed.

"Relax. You should feel honored. The others will get quick, meaningless deaths. I'm doing them a favor. They ruin their lives enough on their own. I'm just saving them from themselves and each other. Besides, half of the children in this 'school' are suicidal enough as it is. I might even have a little fun with it and go for the vampire-obsessed ones first. This way they can get a glimpse of the characters that they have come to idolize. It's really quite funny if you think about it. The term 'vampire' used to refer to folklore and horror movie characters and now they are thought of as seductive and enthralling. In a way, I suppose we are, but not for the reasons that they'd like to believe. Our looks are meant to lure. We are the Venus flytraps in a world full of flies. And you humans make it too simple. But I guess I can't classify you with them anymore, can I?"

He didn't wait for my response.

"Don't look at me like that. Besides, we are not the only ones who humans have feared throughout history. You are not seen as the protectors that you claim to be. You are monsters just as we are. Lycans and shape shifters have caused pain just as much as they have prevented it, maybe even more. We are not the only ones who are guilty of this manipulation. You dogs do it too, you just don't realize it."

"What are you talking about?" I asked angrily.

"Have you not looked in a mirror lately? You are not the same weak, insignificant human that died that night in the snow. You've taken on a whole new look. The girls here fear you as their competition and the males see you as a target. There's a dangerous air to you now and everyone likes a bit of danger in their life. It's attractive to them. Humans want things that they know that they shouldn't have and that defines you."

"And you know this how?"

"It's impossible to miss. You all have this trait. It starts as soon as you're tatted. Which reminds me, we have a bit of a bond now, don't we? You never forget the face of the one who tatted you," he leaned in closer, "no matter how hard you try. Tell me, have you dreamed of me yet?"

I scowled. "Why are you doing this now? Why here? Why don't you just go ahead and kill me? I'm right here and no one's around. It's perfect."

My face was frozen and if he was going to kill me, then I wasn't going to go down without a fight. Anger was pulsing through me and I wanted this fight that he was talking about so that I could get it over with. I let my teeth click together loudly before baring them again.

"Oh no love, this isn't the time or place," he leaned into my ear again as he whispered, "When I kill you, there isn't going to be anyone around. I want you to really be a challenge for me. And right now, you're not. Your first death bored me. It was simple and peaceful and what good would that do me? But luckily, it resulted in more. Honestly, I don't think you realize how desperately I want to hear you _scream_." His grip on my wrist tightened and he pushed himself harder against me, moving his lips from my ear to the tip of my neck. "I want you to feel the pain that I've endured for centuries. And the only way that I can be sure that that happens is if I do it myself. I don't think that I can move on until I do. But, I can't do it now. I prefer surprise and I know where to find you."

He brushed his lips across my collarbone, his unnecessary breathing steady against my neck. I growled louder this time and he moved his head away from me before I had the chance to decapitate him, not saying that I could've, but I would definitely try. He moved his face only inches away from mine and stared. I was still growling. His eyes focused in on mine.

"You've imprinted, haven't you?"

"What?"

My tone was cold and harsh. I was shocked that it was coming from me, but he didn't even flinch.

"You have that shine in your eyes, that pain. There is someone who you just can't have and it's eating away at you. Aiyana had that same look in her eyes once upon a time. It killed her and if you're not careful, it just might kill you before I do. In fact, you really remind me of her. You have her eyes. And I'd be willing to bet that you've got a pesky black flower somewhere on your back just like she did. After all, _elle était la fleur noire."_

"Hey!"

I turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Oh crap! I didn't need this right now. Dominic was staring at us from the end of the hallway and he didn't look very happy. His aid badge swung from left to right around his neck as he stomped over. I had forgotten about him being an aid. When most people are in class, our school's aids help teachers out by copying papers, taking things to other teachers and other various tasks. Bottom line, they stay in the hallway for a good portion of the time. Jared, if that was even his real name, looked away from my neck and over to my boyfriend. Knowing Dominic the way that I do, he would avoid accusing me of cheating at all costs, but he could be the jealous type and that was what worried me the most. He was walking in our direction. Jared smiled anxiously. I knew what he was thinking. The hunger and malice towards me were in his eyes, and what better way to hurt me than to kill an innocent person right in front of me?

"I'm guessing this belongs to you?" Jared asked, moving his body a few centimeters away from me, but still holding onto my hands. His voice had changed. It was still smooth, but now it had a more…modern edge to it. He sounded more like an eighteen-year old senior rather than an old English resident.

"Yeah, she's my girl."

I would just have to be mad about the fact that he practically just referred to me as his property later because I would have to keep him alive if I wanted to kill him.

"Well, we were just in the middle of something, so if you don't mind…."

He turned away from Dominic and smiled at me before turning his focus back to my neck. I closed my eyes and Jared loosened his grip on my wrist but pushed himself harder against me so that I couldn't even squirm. We both knew what was coming next and Jared had enough time for only one slow kiss on the top of my neck before it happened. Dominic ripped him off of me and punched him in his jaw. Dominic tried to hide it, but he was in pain. He tried to close his hand, and grimaced at every attempt. I moved between them. As Jared straightened himself up, his eyes began to change. They weren't blue anymore; they were darker, much darker. His entire eye swirled to an eerie black. He smiled and moved closer to us. I held onto Dominic's shirt and forced him to stay behind me as I crouched slightly.

"Surely you wouldn't change in front of him now would you?" Jared's expression was smug and calm. I despised him even more then, but I knew that he was right. I couldn't change in front of Dominic, and the sound of a fight this scale would surely bring attention to us from all of the students and teachers who were located right behind the doors of the hallway that we were standing in. I glanced around, only for a second, not wanting to take my eyes off of Jared for too long, and caught a glimpse of Dominic. He didn't need this drama in his life. He didn't need this threat and he doesn't need me.

"She doesn't have to."

My heart skipped a beat. I had to be hearing things because there was no way that I just heard the voice that I thought I just heard. I looked around Jared to see Keith walking slowly down the hallway. Jared's gaze followed the direction that I was looking in and then turned back to me. He laughed mischievously.

"This is him, isn't it? It wasn't the human that you've imprinted on, it's this one. It's so obvious! You have quite a lot to deal with, don't you?"

"Shut up," I snapped. Dominic had stiffened behind me and Keith's arms were crossed. This only excited Jared more.

"I'm guessing that the human doesn't know?"

I took a step in his direction and Keith lowered his arms mirroring me. The bell rang. With the feeling of a quick breeze, Jared was gone before the students began flooding the hallway. I huffed in frustration and walked over to Keith.

"How did you know where we were?" I asked.

"How do you think?" His tone broke my heart. It was cold and it was clear that he didn't want to talk to me.

"Instincts, right. Thank you anyway."

"Yeah."

This was all he said before disappearing into the crowd of freshmen. They continued on about their business unaware of the death trap that had just been dodged. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to be upset before Dominic spun me around.

"You care to explain to me what that was?" he asked.

"Now really isn't the time Dominic."

"Then make time. What was all that? What in the hell aren't you telling me, Chanelle?"

I hadn't really realized it, but I was walking blindly. I wasn't bumping into anybody. It was almost as if they were clearing a path for me, like they were avoiding me, afraid of me. The looks they were giving me, it was like I was suddenly the center of the universe. When did this happen? I mean, it's not like I've never gotten random looks and I'm not an outcast or anything, but never had so many people watched me for no real reason. I didn't stop until I felt a warm hand grab me by my arm and spin me around roughly, too roughly. I snarled. I literally _snarled_ at Dominic of all people. It's not like I didn't understand it though. His grip had been way too tight and he wasn't my focus at the moment. The shock had pissed me off. I couldn't help myself. It took all of me not to jump him right then and there, but with the look that he gave me, I might as well have. Fear and surprise consumed his expression, but I almost prefer that over the anger that followed. He dropped my arm and turned his back to me, walking down the hall with the crowd that was slowly getting smaller.

I started hyperventilating, realizing what I could've just done. In those few seconds when he had grabbed my arm and turned me around, I saw all the different things that I could do to him. I shuddered. All of the scenarios resulted in his death and they were by far not peaceful ones. And I wasn't even seeing all of this through my own eyes, but rather through the eyes of another almost. And the look of the surrounding students was petrifying. In a few of the instances, I had done it all so quickly that they didn't notice that there was anything wrong with him until he hit the ground and I was gone. Oh and the blood! His blood, it was everywhere! It was on me, around me, near me, all over him and the other students! And the monster version of me was happy about it, enjoying it, loving it, craving it. I was actually _tasting_ it and wanted more.

His murders had all looked so simple. He didn't expect any of it, my strength, my speed, and my ruthlessness, none of it. None of them did until it was all over. And what if I was capable of something like that? If I would have killed him in front of all of those students who all know me one way or another, what would I do after? Would I kill them too and then kill the people who came to find out what was going on? It would be a mass war, an endless columbine and I would be the cause of it all. And then where would that leave my parents? They would be known as the producers of the world's worst-known killing machine. And then where would Jared and Keith be during all of this? Jared would surely smell the blood and that would lead to even more deaths. And then Keith…Keith, even if my conscience after all of that ended didn't kill me, I think the look on his face when he would see what I caused would.

And what was with him anyway? I thank him and all he can say is 'yeah'? I may be in some sick, convoluted version of love with him, but I can't help but to be a little annoyed by that.


	8. Night Shift

**Chapter 7**

**Night Shift**

Dominic being an aid had gotten him involved in this situation; maybe my being an aid can end his involvement for good. I filled out one of the passes from the principal's desk and scribbled on it to make it look like a teacher's signature. This was all a simple process. I had snuck Dominic out of class before and he's done the same for me. The teachers rarely suspected a thing, and for those small few who did, they were too amused to care. I walked into his fifth period class without knocking. I was a regular visitor to Mr. Shuler's class and he was used to me.

"I'm guessing you need Dominic?" he asked me the second that he saw me.

"How did you guess?" I threw on a fake smile for him. Mr. Shuler wasn't one of my teachers, but he was easily one of my favorites. He didn't question our actions and it wasn't like Dominic was the only person that I was ever sent for, that would be suspicious. Dominic looked up from his cluster of fellow guys and promiscuous-looking girls in the back corner of the room. And I know what you're thinking, and yes I trust him. He was the good boy of the group, but you wouldn't guess that by the way he was looking at me as he started walking in my direction. I kept my smile as I waited for him by the door and followed him out, pulling it up slowly.

"Let me see it," I said quietly as we walked down the hall. He wouldn't look me in the eyes.

"See what?"

A chill went down my spine. That was just how cold his voice was. I seemed to be getting that a lot lately.

"Your hand."

When he refused to stop, I stepped in front of him and pushed myself against him. I stared up at him and he finally let out a deep sigh of frustration. It had been a while, but the puppy dog eyes still worked. He stood still as I reached down and cradled his right hand in both of mine. His pulse was clearer to me now than it had ever been as it seeped through my fingertips effortlessly. I slid my tips across the surfaces of his hand searching for a break. His heart beat sped up. A small smile formed on my lips. There wasn't a complete break, but there were definitely a few cracks in the bone and the bruises on his knuckle were impossible to miss. I touched the middle of his palm, making him flinched.

"You need to get this looked at," I whispered. "It's fractured."

"I'm fine," he muttered pulling his hand out of my grip and walking around me.

"_Please_ don't do this to me."

"Do what?"

"Ignore me; act like I'm not here. You know perfectly well what."

"Well, you made it pretty clear that you didn't want to talk, so what _do_ you want from me?"

I stopped him again and crossed my arms. "Something happened…and I don't want you to get hurt because of it."

This just seemed to make him even angrier.

"What are you talking about? Is this about that guy? I mean, did I miss something? What is it that you're not telling me?"

"I'd tell you if I could. Either way, you wouldn't believe me."

"A year. We've been together for a year, and that's the best that you can come up with to break up with me?"

Great, now the tears were coming. GAH! STUPID EMOTIONS! Did I want to break up with him? It was the best thing, right? Maybe it would be good if he hated me. But that wouldn't keep Jared from using him against me later. I shuddered. His deaths were flashing in my mind again. The look on his face and the fear in his eyes, it was all too much. I started crying even harder.

"It's not that simple," I choked out. He grunted.

"If you want me gone, then tell me. Do you want this to be over?"

"I don't know. I just don't know how to make this all make sense to you."

"Try me."

"I can't."

"Why can't you?"

The irritation in his voice was mixing with his insecurities.

"It could get you killed," I whispered.

"That's really creative, Chanelle. Am I supposed to say that you're some saint now for saving my life? Look, I'll live if you want to break up. I just want to know why. Give me the honest reason."

I shook my head and wiped my eyes.

"Fine…just give me some time, alright? If you're done interrogating me then I guess you can go back to class. If any questions come up, then just say that the office got you mixed up with somebody else."

I crossed my arms and stood still as he walked past me slowly. This was going to be a long life.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Damon, relax. Nothing happened."

What was it with people questioning me today? That was all that Damon had done the second that I had gotten home. He had followed me into my house and upstairs to my room, and thus here we were: me slouched on my bean bag chair, and him sitting on my bed. I had an intense migraine working and I wanted to be left alone, but Damon was persistent. It was no surprise that he had sensed that there was something wrong with me, but Keith had filled him in on the details.

"Obviously _something_ happened. Your boyfriend is involved now. He knows that there's something not right about the leech and the leech knows that he's close to you. There's no telling what he's going to do to him when he gets the chance and that could be any time."

"Do you seriously think that I haven't thought about that," I asked angrily. "I know what could happen to him. He's my boyfriend! It's not like it didn't cross my mind. They're all in danger. Jared might start going after random people in the school if he hasn't already started."

"Who's Jared?" Damon asked, cutting me off.

"He's the leech."

"You know his name?"

"That's not what's important right now. People are going to start coming up missing and we're going to know why. Innocent people might die. I at least have a chance, they don't. I really think that we should be more concerned with them than with me."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"I don't go to your school so I wouldn't notice if they came up missing, but the pack comes first, and that counts even more for you because you're family and because he's the one who got you tatted. We need to talk to the guys about all of this." He stood up. "I'll drive."

The thought of seeing Keith again today made me nervous. His face and eyes and voice had been so cold and expressionless earlier. I didn't know if I could handle that again so soon. Sadly, Keith's backyard was where we met once again. It was still pretty early and the last bits of snow had melted, but not even the comfortable temperature and breeze could ease the queasiness that I felt the second that I saw Keith sitting on the picnic table. He had changed his clothes. Now he had on a thin, plain, white shirt and beige shorts that most likely would've been pants on a normal person. He was staring off into the trees a few yards away. It was really easy to forget that he was blind. He didn't let it show at all. If it weren't for his glazed eye color, I never would've guessed in the first place.

He looked in our direction, I refused to look away. He wasn't going to intimidate me, not today. I sat on the opposite side of the table and Damon sat beside me.

Keith turned back to the forest and asked, "I'm guessing that I already know what this is about?"

"Yeah, you do," Damon answered. I laid my head down on the table and listened to Damon as he called the rest of the guys over and filled them in on the situation.

I didn't fully listen again until I heard Josh's confused voice as he struggled to fully put the pieces together. It's not that he's not smart or anything, he just second guesses himself a lot.

"Okay so…we have to keep her, her boyfriend, and an entire school alive?"

"Pretty much," Damon replied simply.

"How exactly do you expect us to do that?"- Another chill went up my spine. Yep, you guessed it, Keith was speaking. –"We still have classes and Chanelle and I are the only ones who are there full time. It seems like all he wants to do is keep himself busy. There's no way that we can be everywhere at once without getting caught or getting someone hurt."

I propped my head onto my crossed arms and looked back and forth between the guys. Damon ran his fingers through his hair.

"I know. All that we can do for right now is be on the lookout and pay extra attention to her boyfriend, whatever his name is."

"Dominic. His name is Dominic. I'll watch him when I can."

"No offense C, but you're still new to this."

"Don't pull that crap. I'm new, but I'm the one with the most purpose. None of us know what I can do, so let me find out. Besides, I've dealt with this guy the most."

"That's true, but I don't want you pulling night shifts alone. Keith why don't you-"

"You know why that would be a bad idea Damon," Keith snarled, cutting Damon off.

"What ever do you mean, Keith?" I grunted. My cousin's mock confusion did basically everything but amuse me. The three of us were still the only ones who knew what was so awkward about all of this. I hid my face yet again, letting my eyes close.

"I'd really rather not talk about this now. You're just making this awkward for Chanelle," Keith muttered.

"You two need to work out your problems, why not at her boyfriend's house when no one's awake or aware of the fact that you're out there? It's perfect!"

"That's not funny, Damon."

"I'm not laughing…not anymore anyway."

The growl was loud, but it was the vibrations through the picnic table that really made me jolt. I stood up and started walking.

"Chanelle."

I stopped.

"I'm sorry, but we can't have this tension in the pack." – I turned around. –"You two have to work this out whether you want to or not. I don't care if you never speak to each other again, this is serious and I won't have you two jeopardizing anyone."

I sighed. Not only was he serious, but he was right. "When do we start?"

"How's tonight for you?"

Fantastic…simply fantastic, this was all working out fabulously! Now I get to sneak out of my house past midnight to go to my boyfriend's house (if you can even still call him that) while he's asleep and spend my night with the guy who currently hates my existence. Any other time, that would be just great, but these circumstances suck. I got there shortly before Keith did and hid out in the trees in Dominic's backyard. I already felt like a stalker, I didn't want his neighbors thinking that I was one too. I laid myself out on a high branch and let my arms and legs hang off. I played with a leaf close to me and let out a puff in the cold night air.

I stiffened at the sound of a twig snapping behind me and then sniffed the air. I sat up from my position and leaned my back against the tree. Looking below me, I saw nothing, but I knew that he was there. No matter how mad I was at him, I couldn't ignore his scent. It was just so seductive and alluring. His fur blended so well with the dark of the night that it was impossible to see him unless he moved. He sniffed the air cautiously and then looked in my direction. I rolled my eyes. Show off.

"You know, you didn't have to change before you got here," I whispered. He ignored me. I sighed. On a positive note, the whole imprinting thing had really specified itself a bit. He was still the only thing on my mind, but it was a lot less about lust. I was thinking a lot clearer now and it didn't hurt as much for me to stay away from him. He was already in love. He didn't need me as a lover, and he didn't really need me as a friend. To be honest, he didn't need me at all, but maybe there was more to him than he was willing to let me see.

I let my legs sway back and forth over the edge. We were stuck here until sunrise. We would both have to run back home and get ready for school without being late and without getting caught. He tested the air again and started walking to the edge of the trees. The breeze picked up and for the first time in a while, I felt relaxed. With all of the dreams and history and nightmares, my nights hadn't exactly been peaceful. And yet, since changing for the first time, I was starting to develop a new respect for the night. It seemed to be the only time of my day when drama wasn't exploding in my face, but of course, that can always change. I leaned forward and let my head rest on my arms.

"You know, I don't like this whole imprinting thing anymore than you do, but it's not going to help anything if you're going to be a baby about it."

He grumbled roughly and started pacing. I shrugged and watched him carefully.

"So are you going to talk to me or just play the role of the irritated yet fearless protector all night?"

He started to shake. I looked away and once I heard the pop, I looked back to see him pulling on a pair of shorts.

"What do you want from me?" he asked quietly, looking up at me from a few feet below.

"I don't want you to hate me for something that's not my fault."

"I don't hate you, but this isn't exactly easy for me."

"And you think that it is for me?"

"No, it's just…it's a lot to deal with."

I snorted. "Ha, who are you telling?"

"I'm sorry. But you don't fully get what you saw working in my head. All you saw was my girlfriend, and yes, you did remind me of her that particular moment. But do you realize how much it hurts to know that she's most likely going to die before I do? We age so much slower than humans do. She's two months younger than me, but when we get older, people are going to think that she's some kind of cougar. I don't want that for her. So it wasn't a strange thing that she just happened to pop into my head. She's a pretty big part of my life."

"To be honest, I hadn't thought about that fun feature of all of this, but with the way everything is going, I don't think that I'll have to worry about that for very long."

"Jared won't get to him."

"That really wasn't what I meant."

"What did you mean then?"

"Unlike you and your girlfriend, Dominic and I don't have the perfect relationship, at least not anymore. But I really don't think that this is the time or place to talk about it. Go on with what you were saying."

"You don't take this very seriously, do you?"

"I take it more seriously than you think."

"You don't act it."

"Maybe I don't like to."

I sat up straight on my branch. Our eyes were locked competitively.

"Well, if you stay focused on just that one thing, then people could die and you have to realize that."

"And what would that one thing be?"

"Me."

"Get over yourself. You've been in my head once and you think that you know how it all works up here." – I pointed at my head. –"I'm sorry babe, but it's not that simple."

"I think that I saw enough to get an idea."

By this point, our volumes were both at harsh whispers. "An idea isn't enough to understand. Who are you to tell me how my mind works?"

"And who are _you_ to be in love with me when I barely know you?"

That was beyond a low blow. How could he possibly be that arrogant?

"You know what, when you imprint, then you can come talk to me, but until then, don't talk about what you couldn't possibly understand."

"I might need a rain check on that, because the whole imprinting thing won't exactly work out for me."

His voice was low and careful.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'm blind, remember? I don't think that I can imprint on someone if I can't technically _see _them."

Well, I was just discovering all kinds of things these days. I sighed deeply. This had sparked my curiosity though.

"How does that work? How do you see so well without actually being able to see?"

"I was blind before I was tatted and I'm sure that you know how it works when you lose one sense. The others kind of take its place and they strengthen. My senses were already abnormal, but when I changed for the first time, they were insane. It was like a whole new look on life. I can describe almost anything about you except for your exact facial features and color of clothes that you're wearing. It's almost like seeing the world in black and white."

Whoa.

"That's really interesting. What about when you change? You see what any of us are seeing, correct?"

"Yeah, I do. But that doesn't change the fact that it's freakishly easy to hear things that I don't want to hear, or smell things that I don't want to smell, and not fully be able to block it out."

"I'm sorry." What else could I say to something like that?

"I got enough pity when I lost my sight. I don't particularly need yours too."

Okay, so this was a touchy subject for him.

"So you weren't born that way?"

"No I wasn't."

"Then how did it happen?"

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not give my life story tonight."

I sighed and turned onto my back. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Show me what?" he asked in barely over a whisper.

"The real thing…imprinting. It's matured since you last saw it."

"No offense, but we all saw how that went the first time."

"It's not the same thing. If you can't experience it yourself, then you should at least get a better idea of it than what you have. You'd be surprised at how I physically see you in comparison to how the guys see you."

"I don't know."

"Just shut up and change," I said finally. His stubbornness was starting to irritate me.

I looked the other way when he started to pull his shorts down. I didn't need anymore images in my head of him. There was a low rustle followed by the pop. I jumped down from the branch in front of him and started pulling my shirt over my head. I wasn't ashamed, but it was clear that he had a problem with it. He backed up.

"Stop being such a wimp. Nothing's coming off but the shirt and jeans."

He huffed. I pulled off my jeans and then started to shake, Damon was right, it was second nature and the pain was easier to ignore. I shook my fur and lied down in front of Keith. He sat down. I closed my eyes and let it all come naturally. I didn't fight any of it and let every part of me relax. He started to move around. He was pacing again. I didn't have to look at him to know this. His breathing was sharp and harsh.

'_I can change back if you want.'_

My voice didn't stop his pacing. If anything, it made him start to move even faster. I stood up and stretched, letting my eyes glide open. I moved quietly through Dominic's backyard, making sure that the few surrounding houses' windows were black. I didn't want any random strangers screaming about wolf sightings. Dominic's house was a wide two-story so his deck was low to the ground, but his balcony to his room was similar to mine. I climbed the three small steps onto the deck and balanced myself on the railing before leaping the few feet over to Dominic's balcony. I sat down and turned my head to the side. His figure was easy to recognize as the lump on his bed steadily moved up and down. I smiled at the sound of his snoring. It made me think back to our third date when he had fallen asleep during the movie that we had gone to see.

If it weren't for his snoring, I never would have known that he was missing the movie. But what made it so memorable was the fact that I wasn't the only one who had noticed. I spent the rest of the night helping him pick popcorn and candy out of his hair. I never let him forget that day and just thinking about all of that made my heart hurt. Just the thought of Jared coming anywhere near Dominic made me twinge. And just hours ago, I had pictured myself ending Dominic's life. I would surely kill myself before letting myself do anything like that, right? I at least had a guess at where Jared would be during the day, but I couldn't risk having anyone around if I needed to change or when a fight would break out. They would easily get mixed up in it and that would be another life that I would be held responsible for.

I took the same route down from the balcony down to the ground. Why did Dominic and I have to fight so often though? If he just weren't so damn needy. I have a life! Why can't he live his without checking up on me all the time? I don't need a protector. I need a boyfriend who won't go and get himself hunted by my ancestor's ex. I went back into the trees, ignoring Keith, and laid down on my side beside a giant rock. Ever since I was tatted, it's been nothing but fight after fight with Dominic. I honestly don't know how much longer I can put up with it. Realistically, maybe this sudden agitation had more to do with Keith than it did with Dom. As my close friend and boyfriend, Dominic had always been concerned and protective. He wasn't the one changing, I was.

My ears twitched at every tiny noise, most of which, being caused by Keith and his uncomfortable fidgeting. I sat back and watched him for a second. He kept walking and then stopping. Sniffing and snorting, he just wouldn't stay still. He pitied me. He truly felt sorry for me.

Don't get me wrong, watching Keith was fascinating and all, but I just couldn't get Dominic out of my head. Maybe it's time to let him go. Surely there'll be a girl out there who's willing to put up with his overprotective qualities better than I could. I owe it to him.

'_You have quite the dilemma on your hands, don't you?'_

I looked over me to see Keith sitting on the rock staring off into the distance. I didn't appreciate the invasion of space, but I had already let him in my head so why did it matter?

'_You have no idea. Oh wait, you do.'_

My sarcasm was even clearer in my head than it was if I had said it out loud. That was a really interesting perk.

'_Yeah, I do. And I'm sorry that I've made this so much worse for you.'_

'_It's not like it's your fault that I imprinted.'_

'_I know, but I could've handled it better. You seem to really care about this guy.'_

'_I do but he's been irritating the hell out of me lately.'_

'_Coming from a guy's point of view, it looks like he really cares. You don't see that very often these days.'_

'_Well, for now, it's not something that I want. It used to be cute, but now it's just annoying. And on top of all of this, I feel like I've cheated on him every time I'm with him because I'm constantly thinking about you. That's a horrible feeling to have. You can't imagine what that's like. I'm dating him but I would _die_ for you. That's not exactly ideal girlfriend behavior. It's so confusing. I've been having fewer dreams lately and I feel even more lost about this whole process. It's strange knowing that I imprinted on you because you're supposed to be the most suitable mate, but I don't see how that's possible when you didn't imprint on me back.'_

'_I guess I never really thought about it that way.'_

'_Yeah, well, I wouldn't really expect you to. About how much longer do you think we have here?'_

'_I don't know. A few hours, maybe?'_

'_This sucks. If Jared were going to come, I really wish that he would go ahead and do it.' _

'_Don't wish that. The longer he takes the more chance that you have of being ready.'_

'_Who says that I'm not ready now?'_

'_You're still technically a pup. You're still breaking into your senses and you're still getting used to your strength and speed. And you haven't been around blood yet. We don't know how that's going to affect you.'_

I sat up and stared at him. _'What? What about blood?'_

'_Bloodlust, it's not like a leech's. We don't need it, and we never crave it by just the thought or looking at a person, but when it's out in the open and the smell hits us…it can be a little overwhelming.' _

'_Well, I just can't wait 'til that comes back to bite me in the butt like everything else.'_

He snorted. I think that there was a small chance that that was supposed to be a laugh. It's so hard to tell with him.


	9. Burning Ice

**Chapter 8**

**Burning Ice**

I made it to my house that morning seconds before my alarm went off and headed straight for the shower. It almost scared me when I saw how many twigs and blades of grass were left sitting in the drain. It felt great to get them off though. Don't get me wrong, I love the forest and the environment and everything but it's meant to stay outside. And as you may have guessed, from a night with absolutely no sleep, I wasn't exactly willing to talk to anyone. I went straight to my first period class and got the few minutes of sleep that I desperately needed. Unfortunately, those few minutes turned into the entire class period and the sound of the bell was the only thing that could wake me up. But, on the positive side, I was feeling much better- and certainly more social- by then.

I walked through the crowded hallways to the same intimidated stares and curiosity. Was this what it was like for Keith when he first changed? He was probably that big to start off with. His girlfriend must have hated it. The more provocative girls in this school were probably all over him.

I stopped walking and stared, a quick chill shivering up my spine. You have got to be kidding me. It wasn't even noon yet! Could I get at least a tiny bit of a break? Was it possible? Is that too much to ask? He was so close that I had to force myself to breathe so that I wouldn't attack him right then and there. I simply walked where the scent took me and turned the corner to see Jared being led through the double doors that led to the football field by the main harlot of the swim team. I shook my head at the fact that I had honestly just used the word 'harlot' in present-day language. This is what happens after a year of American Literature, even if that was back in my sophomore year here.

Regardless of my word choice, good things never happened on that field during school hours. I gripped my books and walked a little too quickly to the doors. He had Sheila against the wall, with the top of her shirt pushed down and his lips on the edge of her shoulder. Oh no. I gripped his shoulder and spun him around. His eyes were dark blue as he ran his tongue along his bottom lip calmly.

"Back off, bitch!" Sheila yelled at me. I was laughing in my head at the irony of that but I ignored her. Jared smiled.

"Yes?" he asked. I looked around him at Sheila. I half expected to see two tiny holes, but instead saw a full out bite mark. It was pretty nasty looking and Sheila wasn't freaked out by it in the slightest. A line of blood slid down her arm and I fidgeted as I watched it. It smelled remarkable! I shook my head trying to clear the scent. She didn't pay any attention to me as she wiped it away and pulled her sleeve over the mark. That's when it hit me.

"Sheila! You're into that kind of thing?" I asked with quite the disgusted look on my face.

"That's none of your damn business. Vampirism happens to be quite sexy. Maybe if you and Dominic tried it out you wouldn't be wound up so tight."

I didn't have time to be pissed at that last remark. My focus was just on Jared for now.

"She doesn't know, does she?" I whispered so quietly that I could barely hear it.

"No she doesn't."

"Is she going to change?"

"No," he moved closer to me and wrapped his arm around my waist freakishly fast. He looked down at me intently. "I can make it happen if you want. But I wouldn't want to make anything that could hurt our relationship. Surely you would taste a million times better."

He slid his tongue up my neck. I shivered and grabbed his shoulder before landing a punch that felt like it could have gone through a brick wall. He fell to the side. Sheila eyed me angrily.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked. Why should she care? If anything she should be pissed at the fact that he had just licked my neck!

"Get out of here, Sheila." I shot a look at her and she shook apprehensively before scurrying off. It doesn't make any sense for anyone to be that bad of a person. I honestly feel sorry for her boyfriend. He either doesn't care or he is dumb as hell. Jared looked up at me and smiled. He cupped his jaw with his hand, and snapped it back into place. He spread himself out on his back.

"You know, you just did me quite a favor. She didn't have much flavor to her. I must ask though, are you proud of yourself? You just saved a life. Are you going to get some kind of wolf badge for it or something? Oh, and just for the record, I saw the look on your face."

"What look?"

Why was I even encouraging this?

"I'm talking about the look on your face when you smelled that Sheila girl's blood. I was a bit disappointed though. You did a better job of fighting it than I thought that you would have. I almost hoped that you would finish my job for me. Which reminds me, how's the boyfriend?"

I growled and kicked him in his side knocking him up a few feet before he landed on the ground ahead of me with a loud thud.

"You have quite the temper on you. If the circumstances were different, I'd fine that pretty damn sexy." He stood up and sniffed the air while walking in my direction. "You know, for a dog, you have quite the interesting scent."

"What are you doing? Why are you stalling?" I snarled.

"I've already given you my explanation for that. You should really work on your listening skills."

I jumped him, sending his head crashing into the sidewalk. He let out a quick sigh before looking up and smiling.

"You're going to have to do better than that, dog."

I growled and bit his shoulder and kept going until I heard a rip that certainly wasn't caused by his shirt. I had just barely broken through the skin. He breathed slowly in through his nose and out through his mouth and then stopped. For a second, I thought that blood was about to spill and then I remembered who I was dealing with. I felt pressure on my side as he pushed me off.

"Another day then, eh love?"

He was gone seconds before Keith appeared. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I looked up and Keith was staring down at me. I was still on my back.

"We really need to work on your timing." I said in between breaths.

We were back on our night shift and Keith wasn't all that proud of how I had handled the situation.

"You should've waited until I got there," he whispered from a branch beside me. Neither one of us had felt like changing tonight. Even more importantly, we didn't want to be in each other's heads.

"I think we both know what would've happened if I would've waited. No one was killed and no one found out any ancient secrets. I think that's an accomplishment."

"Letting your anger get the best of you in a situation like that can be more dangerous than you think. Lose it and innocent people can get hurt."

"I know and I handle my anger better than you may think. If I didn't then I would've ended up killing Dominic myself."

I shuddered as his deaths flashed in my head again.

"What are you talking about?"

"The first day that Jared showed up at school, I was already pissed and Dominic made it worse. I…saw myself kill him."

"You'll get used to that. You just have to make sure that you don't like what you see enough to actually do it."

We were silent while I thought about what he said. I really couldn't see myself getting used to the idea of seeing myself as a cold-blooded killer every time someone gets on my nerves.

"Human vampirism freaks you out, doesn't it?" he asked after a few more minutes of silence.

"I choose not to judge," I replied.

"That wasn't my question."

"Yeah, I know it wasn't, that's just not a very common question."

"And you still haven't answered."

"I've never done it, but I think that it would be dangerous if I tried."

"So you would consider it?"

"I don't know. Blood has never really turned me on. Well, I guess it kind of does now, but not in the same way. Would you?"

"My last girlfriend before Erin was into it."

"So the golden girl has a name. Does she know about this?"

I threw my legs over onto the branch and leaned back, still watching him curiously.

"Yeah, she knows."

"So you two have talked about exes?"

"Haven't you and your boyfriend?"

I readjusted myself on the branch and looked up through the spaces between the leaves. "It's not exactly a fun topic. I avoid it when I can."

"Did you get any sleep at all today?"

I looked back over at him and focused on his eyes. The space right below his eyes seemed darker than the rest of his face. I mean, I may not be nocturnal, but I could see pretty well in the dark and there were definitely small bags under his eyes.

"Hardly, I'm guessing that you didn't?" I asked.

He shrugged and leaned back against the tree. I didn't think that this was possible, but the bags under his eyes actually looked good on him. They really seemed to define the shape of his eyes. But of course, everything looked good on him. He's Keith. I sighed and looked away, forcing myself to stop staring at him. Why did we both have to be taken?

"Tell me about Erin."

I listened to him shift uncomfortably on the branch. The leaves rustled at the tiniest movements.

"Why?"

"I just want to hear about her. I know you want to talk about her. She's all you think about."

I closed my eyes and centered my hearing on the one thing about him that I knew was about to change: his heart rate. I breathed in through my nose slowly and silently. There it was. The little thump in his chest just got a little faster.

"I love her. What else is there to say?"

There was plenty of tension in his voice. I was making him uneasy, but I wanted to get to know him better.

"Describe her to me," I whispered.

"That's not funny."

He sounded angry. I smiled. He completely took that the wrong way.

"I've already seen how she looks to you. I meant her personality. Why do you love her?"

"Excuse me for saying this, but I honestly doubt that you really want to know. We both know that it doesn't compare."

This was very true. There was no possible way that he could love this girl the same way that I love him, but hey, who cares? Why bring up facts that we already know?

"I know, but you know better than anyone just how much I care about you. Would it be so terrible for me to want to know what it is that makes your life so worth living?"

"With all due respect, I'd rather not discuss it."

"Why are you so formal with me?" I asked, opening my eyes, but refusing to look in his direction just yet.

"I'd rather not talk about that either."

"Just get it off of your chest. It's not like anybody else is going to hear it, and you can't possibly care what I think."

He shifted again. "And why would you assume that?"

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I don't hate the admiration?" – He sat up on the branch and it wasn't hard to guess that he was facing my direction. –"I don't like the idea of cheating and I_ hate_ the idea of hurting Erin, but what you showed me made it really hard to just ignore you or push it all to the back of my head. And yeah, I have one hell of a thing for her, but nobody's perfect. I'm guessing that you didn't know that she has a drinking problem. Or maybe you knew that she got an abortion a year ago because she got drunk at a party and woke up with some guy that she barely knew. She didn't even tell her parents. She just did it. Worst thing about it is that the baby probably would've died from alcohol poisoning even if she would've kept it. So no, we don't have the perfect relationship. And I've seen what you look like. Damon's always worried about you and the day that he found out that you were tatted, he couldn't stop thinking about old memories. You really do seem like a fun person and that makes it even harder."

My heart fluttered and I was sure that he could hear it. But I honestly had no idea of everything that he had just confessed. And here I was thinking that Erin was the perfect angel. I guess I was mistaken. It took me a while to finally find my words and even longer to form them into a weak whisper.

"So…why should it matter that I'm 'in love' with you. We can't at least _try_ to be friends?"

He was silent. I sighed and jumped down to the ground. If I was going to be here then I might as well be productive. I stripped down completely where I stood. Keith couldn't see me so what was there to ashamed of? Besides, I'd gone through way too many sets of underwear in the last few days. I took a deep breath, held it, and started to shake. I stretched my claws, shook my fur, and moved at an easy jog. I made sure to keep my senses open. There weren't any new scents to pick up. I doubt that Jared had been anywhere near the area. I stopped by a rock, unable to stop my mind from clouding.

This was obviously the path that Keith had taken to get here and it was driving me crazy! His scent is just so…uh! I can't even describe it. It's like a mix between intoxicating and addictive with a dash of seduction and a pinch of fudge. And yes, I have a monstrous chocolate addiction so that means a lot. There were small cracking sounds around me. It was going to rain soon. It was a bit sad though. The animals were trying to get away from the rain, but they were trying to get away from me too. I couldn't blame them. I'd be afraid of me too if I weren't me if that makes any sense. I ran around the area trying to find another scent before the rain starts and rinses it away or at least makes it harder to track. I stopped suddenly.

I had found a new scent and I had been around Jared too many times to know that it wasn't from him. This was someone, or something, else. I ran back to the edge to the tree that Keith was still in. I didn't have to make a sound. He had already heard me.

"What?"

He was lucky that that sounded more curious than rude or else I would've let my angrier side take over. I changed back quickly.

"There's a new scent. It can't be too old, maybe a day at the most."

He dropped down a few feet away from me and pulled off his shirt. I saw his tat for the first time. His was a simple claw print. It wasn't an animal in general or a part of nature, it was just a claw. He put his hands on the button of his jeans and stopped.

"Do you mind? I know you're still standing there."

I was staring again. I really hadn't meant to, in all honesty. I apologized, started running and changed in mid-step. I could hear the pop behind me as he changed.

'_It represents my senses.'_

His voice in my head surprised me and I ended up taking a wrong turn and had to double back.

'_What does?' _I questioned.

'_My tat. We're all animalistic, but my senses are different. They were similar to an animal's even before I was tatted. It's irritating, but it makes me one hell of a tracker.'_

'_How were you tatted?'_

'_I'll tell you about that when we're not so busy.'_

I stopped at the spot where the new scent was strongest. Keith was beside me within a minute and the rain was starting to drip down on us. He was pacing and panting for a while just taking in the location. I laid down out of his way and watched him work. Being in his head was so confusing! There were millions of things working in his mind at once and none of those things made any sense to me.

'_I've never smelled it before, but there's a pretty good chance that it's a leech. It smells way too sweet for it to be anything else.'_

'_So what do we do?'_

'_I can try to track it, but the rain'll get rid of it before I get a good enough hold on it. Whoever, or whatever, it was I doubt that it was after your boyfriend. The smell was nowhere near his house.'_

Great! Now there's even more things to look out for. Well this is just peachy. To make things even better, and yes this is sarcasm, I got another visit from a familiar blue-eyed boy later at school. His scent hit me even with all the students surrounding us at the time. I tried my best to dodge the bodies before he could catch up with me. Sadly, I'm the one with an identity to hide, not him. His arm wound around my waist and his lips met my ear.

"I'm having a party tonight, and I'm sure my family would love to meet you." – He took a deep breath, taking in the scent of my hair. Sliding his arm up to my shoulder, he tightened his grip and led me around the corner and outside. There was a snap under his thumb as he popped my arm out of its socket with a smile. A grunt of pain slipped past my lips. –"You should come and bring the boys." He ran his tongue up from my top lip to the edge of my nose. I head butted him. With my right arm still healing, my forehead was my most convenient option for a weapon. My forehead was throbbing, but he stumbled back away from me.

"I'm doing you a favor, love. You're going to need my scent to find me tonight. It's not like I would just give you my address. But don't worry, I'll leave a trail."

The smell of beer, cigarette smoke, and chlorine hit my nose the second that I walked through the back gate with the guys behind me minus Josh. The last thing I needed was to have to worry about my little cousin getting drunk or smoking at one of these parties. Besides, he has a curfew and his mom would kill all of us if she found out that we brought him here. But, Jared definitely had not lied about leaving a trail. His scent was all over the trees and roads that led to this place. And if his smell was bothering me this bad, they must've been driving Keith completely insane. Of course, I didn't dare to look back to find out.

"Okay, so where is he?" Damon asked as we walked along the concrete path. Eyes were drawn to us immediately. The girls were staring at the shirtless bodybuilders behind me and the guys were looking at me in my all-white bikini and sarong. This was a pool party and we had to look the part. I guess it was all a matter of our animal magnetism and their combination of hormones and alcohol. There really was something to what Jared had said about us attracting prey. If we had wanted to kill any of the people here, all we would've had to do is invite them into a dark place or do it quickly enough that no one would notice. It was all painfully simple. But, I guess to most we were quite a sight. Only Keith and I actually go to the same school as the majority of the people here and they had probably never seen the rest of the pack. In a way, it's all flattering, but it's annoying at the same time.

A growl erupted from my chest as well as Keith's, both so low that only we wolves could hear it. Our expressions were equally blank as we looked for the source.

"What is it?"

We ignored Damon's question. It's not that we meant to, we were just really distracted and we didn't want to lose the scent. Keith and I tried our best to be casual as we walked on. Another smell mixed in with the new one. Jared. I stopped. The whole area was starting to make my brain hurt. I pinched the bridge of my nose and forced myself to take deep breaths.

"Stop trying to control it and let it control you." These calm words of wisdom came from none other than Keith who was now standing beside me with crossed arms and a vacant stare that wasn't directed at me. Without a word, I did as he said and closed my eyes. The variety of smells and sounds pounded my brain and slowly evened out as I glanced around at the entranced faces of the students. Not as many were staring now. They simply looked up when they thought that we wouldn't notice.

Before I could really think to do it, my fingers were untying the knot of my sarong and letting it drop at the edge of the pool before I plunged in. I swam under the surface of the water easily, despite the seemingly collective pulse of the racing hearts within the bodies around me, until I had my destination pinned against the corner of the pool. To everyone else, it seemed like I was just flirting by having my hands on his abs and the rest of me against him, but to myself, Jared, and the pack, it was clearly more than that. Jared's expression was just as cool as his skin felt against my skin.

"How many are there?" I whispered. My eyes were locked with his and our atmosphere spread as the hearts thumped harder, forcing their blood to flow faster.

"How many what?" he asked with feigned innocence.

It's funny. I hadn't noticed how much longer and sharper my nails had all grown until I dug them into Jared's skin. He groaned quietly and regained his composure by slipping his hands onto my waist and clenching my sides. I gasped and he smiled. Judging by the number of splashes behind me, I guessed that the guys had heard me. I flicked my hair over my shoulder and shook my head, hoping that they would take the hint to let me handle this by myself. They did.

"The two big ones are still watching you." – He whispered against my lips. –"Now…what is it that you're looking for?"

"How many more of you are there?"

"Ah, you mean my family. Well, not my genetic family. They're dead." A sadistic grin lit up his face. A chill went down my spine.

"So there's more here?" I asked.

"Yes. I believe that you'll even recognize our newest addition."

I snarled at him instinctively. He ignored me and tilted his head to the side, taking his eyes off of mine for only a second.

"Do you still want to get rid of that boyfriend of yours?"

"W-"

He grabbed the side of my head, smashing his lips against mine. My nails went even further into him as he pulled me closer by my slowly shattering hips. My fingers were in deep enough to the point that my knuckles were left on the edge. I could feel his fingers avoid the back of my neck. He didn't want to accidentally snap any part of my spine and spoil his fun. My struggle was impossible to recognize from any angle and we both knew it. Angrily, his mouth forced mine open in one quick movement. The overwhelmingly sweet taste of his breath filled every part of me and I felt myself go limp against him. He let go of my head but kept his grip on my waist. With a smile he whispered, "I'm going to make your life hell until I can send you there."

He let go of me and pulled my fingers out of his skin, leaving me to sink into the water. The pain of my bones reconstructing themselves kept me conscious and I watched him as he climbed out of the pool and covered the holes and hanging skin that my nails had caused. My body sank farther as I let the healing continue. If I would've stayed under water for this long before I was tatted, my lungs would be screaming at me for air, but for the most part, I was fine.

Grey eyes locked onto mine and strong arms wrapped themselves around me. I jerked for a second in shock as Keith swam. I knew that our skin was normally warm, but his felt like a cool kind of burn. It was hot and cold at the same time and comfortable. For a second, I really thought that the water should be boiling right about now. It wasn't long before Keith's feet touched the bottom of the pool and we were both above the water to see Damon watching nervously at the edge.

"I wasn't drowning," I choked out. He looked down at me and I sank farther into his arms nervously. He looked…worried about me. Keith honestly looked worried about me. Albeit, he looked a little mad too but that wasn't the point. He propped me onto the concrete surrounding the pool and I automatically pulled my legs up to my chest. I was freezing now that he wasn't touching me. I watched him back away from me as my teeth chattered so hard and fast that I thought that they were going to scramble my brain. Whatever it was that I had just felt, he definitely felt it too.

"Um, you might want to go catch your boyfriend."

I can honestly say that that was the first time that I had ever heard him sound nervous.

"Where did he go?" I asked as I sadly slipped back into reality.

"He just went through the gate." Damon answered with a devilish smile. I grabbed my sarong and headed for the parking lot. I could still hear them whispering behind me.

"She's your soulmate, you know," Damon said.

"Yeah…I know," Keith whispered back. And just as I had successfully started having heart palpitations, I beat Dominic to his car by just seconds. I started tying the sarong back on carefully around my waist. My bones weren't exactly perfect just yet. He stared at me with a look of anger and confusion.

"Not now, Chanelle."

He tried to push me aside, but I held my ground better than he expected. My head started to spin as the smell of beer with just a hint of whiskey bombarded me.

"You've been drinking," I said.

He shrugged. "Yeah, so. Why don't you go complain about it to your new boyfriend back there?"

Dominic's no alcoholic, but it's never good when he drinks. Generally he'll just have maybe a beer or two, but when he's upset and starts experimenting with other drinks, all hell breaks loose.

"You're not driving tonight," I stated, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Last time I checked, this was my car, these were my keys, and this was _my_ life. So stay here, whatever. I'm going back to the party."

I leaned on his hood and watched him storm off. Tonight was not a night to deal with our relationship problems, especially if he wouldn't remember in the morning. For right now, I had a job to do and the scent had just whipped past me again and was leading me into the flauntingly elegant mansion. My hands shot straight for my nose the second that I stepped through the door. The place reeked of the odor. I looked around at the high ceiling and what I guessed to be the living room. In said room was the largest TV that I have ever seen against one wall, two large beige couches opposite of each other, a large window and a mahogany coffee table in the center of it all. The window was blocked almost completely by the TV, but the exposed remainder of it showcased very expensive-looking black curtains and matching black blinds. The lack of light made the room perfect for watching movies or doing things that no one's parents would approve of.

After my little observation, I went right back to my tracking. This isn't my first house party and there are always those few couples who don't give a damn about privacy which is why I didn't bother to look in the kitchen. The smell of alcohol, vomit and tobacco had covered up the new scent completely. At the end of the hall was a flight of stairs, and at the bottom of those stairs, I was stopped by a beautiful boy with tan skin, brown hair, and well-defined muscles that he didn't bother to hide by wearing a shirt. He was drenched in the new scent.

"Judging by the bruises on your hips, it's pretty clear that you're the one that Jared's been going on and on about, so I guess I'll be the second ta welcome you ta our humble abode."

With that being said in a calm, Southern tone, he bowed deeply. While straightening himself back up, he let his eyes wander.

"So, just how many 'relatives' do you have?" I questioned. He ignored me.

"You know, they sure are making you dogs a lot more attractive these days." – I felt a breeze and suddenly he was behind me. –"It makes it much harder to resist."

"Resist what?" I asked, refusing to look at him.

"Why tasting you for the fun of it a course," he whispered into my hair.

"Then why _do you_ resist?" I edged. He started twisting the top knot of my bikini between his fingers.

"I'm not like my brother. His past is not mine and his affairs are his burden alone. Personally, if it weren't for my instincts and your stench, I would be very tempted to take you up to my room right now."

I laughed a tad bit too darkly for my personality. "And if it weren't for _my_ instincts, your stench, and my self-respect, I would take you up on that offer."

He laughed and his finger traced a line down my back. The line curved enough to let me know that he was tracing the rose. Considering everything that was going on, I had forgotten about it. Every part of me that his skin made contact with froze and stung at the same time, making me cringe. This made him smile.

"I like that. Most pups would fear the idea a coming in contact with us so early on, but you look for us. I've got ta say I'm impressed. I'm really gonna hate it if my brother really does go about killing you. You would've made a rather sexy house pet."

My teeth were bared and I was snarling the second that he finished that sentence. He smiled even harder showing perfectly straight white teeth.

"Aw, relax, darling. I was just playing. You can go upstairs if you want, but I doubt that you're gonna like what you find. It's pretty messy."

He brushed past me and headed out the door. These guys were really starting to piss me off with the comments. As if getting hit on by human guys wasn't bad enough.


	10. Fight Night

**Chapter 9**

**Fight Night**

He was right. I was only on the second floor and it was completely littered with empty plastic cups, beer bottles and various passed out students. Being careful to step over the unconscious bodies, I went farther down the hall. In all honesty, I didn't even know what I was looking for at that point. I mean, I know what the scent is now. I guess I still don't know just how many were causing it. There was no real way of telling. Any one of these drunkees could be a leech or just covered in their smell. But I guess something will tip me off. My body jerked at the feeling of a warm hand wrapping itself around my wrist. Of course, it wasn't just any hand. Seriously, he would have to stop touching me if he wasn't going to leave his girlfriend because this was really starting to make me jumpy. He spun me around.

"You shouldn't be up here by yourself," he stated.

"I'm not. You're here along with all of these lively folks at my feet. I'm perfectly fine."

He leaned close to me and tilted his head so that his nose brushed against my neck. My chest started heaving uncontrollably. I shifted awkwardly. I think I even felt a few beads of sweat pop up on the back of my neck. His sharp intake and exhale ruffled my hair and he pulled back. I was staring at him with unconsciously anxious eyes and an open mouth. His face was stone as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You've been around one of them, haven't you?"

"Y-yeah" – I cleared my throat and tried to get rid of the huge lump that was suffocating me. – "I ran into one. No big deal."

He turned around with his hand still on my wrist and started leading me downstairs. I just didn't have it in me to fight back when his skin was burning mine in such an oddly comfortable way. And, you know, I'm pretty sure that he smiled. In fact, I'm really sure that I saw a smile. But why wouldn't he? He just discovered another effect that he has on me. GAH! He could possibly make me do anything that he wanted…_yay_! The cool air ripped me away from my thoughts and I was amazingly grateful for that. I didn't want to concentrate on this freaky imprinting mind control.

"You can let go of me now. I'm not some dog on a leash."

Okay, maybe not the best choice of words, but he did as I asked without looking at me. I crossed my arms as we started walking side by side on the sidewalk along the edge of the house. I don't think that you could imagine the insane tension and awkwardness. I was dying to ask him tons of questions, but I just couldn't get past my more stubborn side for some reason.

"So…do you know anyone here?" I asked. We had just reached the grass and the blades felt nice and cold between my toes. We both kept looking straight ahead.

"I think Erin might come by later if she isn't already here. I don't know what it is with her. It's just like she has some radar in her brain that picks up every hot spot in the local area. It's crazy."

I sighed without really meaning to. Erin wasn't exactly my favorite topic, but hey, whatever makes him happy.

I shuffled my feet. "So you're going to be on the lookout for her tonight?"

"Well, knowing Erin, I doubt that finding her will be that hard of a thing to do."

"Yeah, I bet." One of the positives of Keith being blind is that he couldn't see me roll my eyes just then.

"What about Dominic? How is he holding up?" he asked.

"He's probably passed out somewhere or throwing up."

"And you're okay with that?" He sounded surprised.

"I can't do anything to stop him. I mean physically I could, but he's pissed enough at me as it is."

"So he saw you with Jared?"

"We all know that he did. He was jealous enough already. And it doesn't exactly help that I can't explain this whole wolf thing."

My nostrils flared suddenly as a delectable smell hit me. Yelling was coming from a few yards ahead of us. With the way that that crowd was moving around and bunching up, it couldn't be anything other than a fight. I ignored the sound of Keith calling my name and silently walked closer. At that moment, the human portion of my brain shut itself off. The wolf was out now.

I needed it. Everything in me was screaming that I had to have it…whatever it was. Who was I kidding? I didn't want to admit it, but I knew exactly what it was. Someone in that fight was bleeding and the scent coming off of all of it plus the adrenaline and testosterone made it simply irresistible. Before I could stop myself, I was running. Surely the humans couldn't see me and I wouldn't kill them. I just needed a taste. All I needed to do was separate the fight and then get the bleeder away from the crowd. Before I could comprehend what was going on, I crashed into a tan brick wall. Well, I guess the wall really crashed into me.

Strong arms constricted around me and the cold burning was back. My feet were lifted off of the ground and my face was buried in Keith's neck. No! Why wouldn't he let me have it? I struggled and screamed.

"LET ME GO DAMNIT! PLEASE!"

He kept walking farther and farther away from my temptation. I wanted it so bad to the point that I was begging and crying for freedom. My arms were useless with the way that he had them glued to my sides, and thrashing my legs around wasn't helping me either. My only option…was my teeth. I bit his shoulder meaning only to shock him into dropping me, but instead ended up drawing blood. He cringed and gasped involuntarily. That sound was enough to snap me halfway back to reality, but not enough to make me stop at that very moment. The wound was deep but the blood was flowing slowly and tasted incredible! My mind and my mouth wanted me to keep going, but something in the rest of my body just wouldn't let me. I went through what felt like a quick seizure as something flashed in my mind and nearly blinded me from the real world. I couldn't process the image but it's like it was telling my body what to do and I had no choice but to do what it said. I licked the drops of blood that I could reach and then the wound that I had caused. I slid my tongue across it one last time and pulled back to see it actually healing.

Keith's head turned in my direction as he struggled to look at it. I started hyperventilating. What did I just do? He stopped back near the pool and close to where we had started our walk. The chlorine helped to clear my head.

"I-I'm so-"

He shushed me gently, just barely loosening his grip.

"It's okay. You didn't know what you were doing, relax," he whispered, causing me to do just that almost instantly. He sat down on one of the pool chairs and sat me on his lap. I looked at the simple scar that used to be the deep gash that I had made with my teeth. I pressed my hand to it and bit my lip, ashamed. I'm supposed to be his soulmate, but I just hurt him. With the way I had just freaked out, I could've drained him right then and there. I shuddered at the thought and on came the wheezing waterworks. He held me tighter and put his chin on the top of my head.

"I'm so sorry." I breathed.

"Like I said, it's fine. Kel has done way worse and he definitely never cleaned up afterwards like you just did."

"What is wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you. You're still new."

"Bull shit. I'm just as bad as _him_." And by him, of course, we both knew that I was referring to Jared.

"You're nothing like him. This was your first real time having to deal with something like that."

"I could've killed someone…. I could've killed you."

His lips pulled back in a smile against my hair. "I hope you don't think that I honestly would've gone down that easily."

He pushed me up with his chest so that I could see him. I smiled.

"I don't know. I was pretty rough just now. I don't think that you could handle that."

"Oh really now?"

I sat farther up and crossed my arms. "No I don't."

He laughed before his face suddenly went blank. He was focusing on something and whatever that something was it had his full attention.

"Aw shit," he murmured.

"What?"

"Stand up."

I slid off of his lap. "What is it?"

"Erin's here. I don't know how long she's been here, but apparently long enough to throw a couple back."

He looked around for a second and finally turned in the direction that he had just dragged me away from.

"So, I'm guessing that that's a bad thing?"

"It's a _really _bad thing. Can you seriously not hear her?"

I stared at my feet and crossed my arms. "I think you forget the fact that even though I've been in your head, I've never met her. I wouldn't recognize her voice either way."

Besides, I have enough things on my mind without having to worry about his alcoholic girlfriend. I was still reeling from the taste of his blood that was still lingering in my mouth.

"You up for an intervention tonight? I might need backup."

I stared at him. His body was turned toward me just enough that I could understand him. To be honest, I didn't really expect him to invite me. He had been so cold in the past few days that this entire night had felt like a dream, at least some of the parts that he was involved in anyway. The rest was a nightmare. Nervously, I looked back down and tried to listen for any signs of the fight. It seemed like the atmosphere was back to normal, but for this party that could mean anything.

"Do you think it's over?" I asked finally.

"What?"

"You know, the fight that was going on before."

"I seriously doubt that you're going to freak out like that twice in one night."

Yeah, well he wasn't in my head when it all happened. I couldn't help but to stare at his scar. I don't have this insane control over myself like they all seem to have. And they're guys. Aren't I supposed to be the sensible one?

"I wouldn't bet on that."

"Look, if anything happens, I've got you. And by the conversations going on over there, I don't think that those guys are even still here. The bar is just around the corner."

"Fine, okay."

And there we were yet again walking side by side in the grass. I wrapped my arms tighter around myself as we got closer to where the fight had been. I ran my tongue over my lips trying to get rid of the last bits of evidence. All the while, the irritating feeling of being watched crept over me as Keith and I kept going. Were we really that different that these people were sincerely intrigued by us? It was awkward to think of how nature intended for us to use this discovery. We are born hunters who disguise themselves as protectors. If it weren't for Keith, I probably would've killed a number of those guys, not just the one who was bleeding.

The mixed scents were faint but got stronger with each step that we took. And with every said step, my breaths grew shorter, quicker and louder. And of course, Keith was aware of all of this the entire way. Apparently bourbon was a big drink at this party. The plastic cups were all full of it.

"Keith! Baby! Hi!"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind of who Erin was now. Call me biased but she looked prettier in his mind. She was a short brunette with big brown eyes, a bit of acne and short, messy hair. The bikini that she was wearing honestly made me feel sorry for her. She looked unhealthily skinny as her ribs showed clearly through her pale skin and her hipbones looked like they were about to pop through. She ran over and jumped on Keith, kissing him sloppily on the mouth. That definitely made one of the top ten images that I never needed to see in a lifetime. I stepped back feeling nauseous, depressed, pissed off, and awkward all at the same time. Keith grunted and set her back on the ground. She turned to me and scowled.

Okay, either this chick was bipolar or she just really didn't like me.

"Who's this, Keith?" she asked, folding her arms and shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She was making it harder and harder for me to keep myself from killing her. If it weren't for the fact that it would hurt Keith and I would most likely never be able to forgive myself, her scrawny little face would be all over this place by now. I crossed my arms right back at her.

"You know, you could just ask me. I am standing right here…beside your boyfriend."

"I've noticed. Care to explain?"

"Care to explain why I have to explain to a stranger why I'm taking an innocent walk with a friend?"

"I believe that you do when that _stranger_ is your _friend's_ girlfriend."

"Well I'm thinking that that _stranger_ isn't too much of a girlfriend if _I'm_ the one here with her boyfriend while she's off getting wasted."

She started bouncing on her heels and I smiled sweetly. It fascinated me that during all of this, she didn't spill a single drop of whatever strong drink was in her cup.

"Okay, are you trying to start something with me tonight, bitch?" she asked me. I glanced up at Keith and he was looking around at everything but the two girls standing a foot in front of him. Oh, so he picks now to play the innocent blind boy.

I kept my smile and scratched my nose. "Trust me babe, you have no idea of just how much of a bitch I can be. But go ahead. Hit me. It would truly make my night."

Keith picked then to step in and hold his girlfriend back. For someone so small, she had a lot of fight in her and that's saying a lot considering that I'm barely over five feet myself. Her brittle nails were centimeters from my face and I just stared at her with a cocked eyebrow. My guess would be that this isn't the first time that she's gotten into a fight at a party. About a third of her nails looked like they had come fresh from a nail salon whereas the rest were broken, misshapen, and a bit red. Jeez, was this what I looked like when the whole blood accident had happened? I bet these people are really starting to see Keith as a bodyguard or something. He's basically done nothing but hold screaming girls. Of course, considering our fits, he's probably the only guy (not counting the rest of the pack) who could really do the job properly.

Keith was glaring at me, but all I could do was smile. There was no question as to who would win the fight. He knew just as well as I did that if we did get into it then one of us would end up dead. And if she bled, then our not-so-little secret would most likely get out.

"Why don't you go find Damon or...somebody?"

I shrugged and ran my nail along the top of his chest and down his arm just to piss her off a bit more. To my surprise, he shivered and that really added to it.

"JUST WAIT 'TILL HE LETS ME GO, SLUT! THIS ISN'T OVER!"

Ha, she'll probably forget all about this within the next ten minutes. Either way, she won't remember by morning. Oh gosh, I'm a bad cousin. I really did lose track of all of them. Surely they're old enough to not get laid, hammered, or high…right? I was feeling better and better about leaving Josh at home by the second. I started scanning the area. Okay, let's see. Brice and Kel were talking to a pair of giggling twins. There was definitely a post-it note in my brain to check back on that later. Damon was off playing basketball with some guys on the basketball court near the pool and tennis court. It was really starting to dawn on me that this place was freakishly massive. But why shouldn't it be, it's run by nothing but vampires who've had centuries to make money. Lucky bastards.

There was nothing outside to hold my attention, so of course, I went to where I knew I shouldn't be. I went back into the mansion. Without even meaning to, I found myself on the second floor yet again. It was still just as cluttered, but something about it just made me stay. My curiosity was getting the best of me and there was no way that I could leave without figuring out what I was supposed to know. To my surprise, Lance was sitting at the bottom of a staircase leaning back and thinking. Tiredly, I plopped down beside him.

"Hey. How goes the hunt?" he asked playfully.

"I'll tell you if I find out."

"That boyfriend of yours, was he wearing black shorts?"

I cocked my head to the side. I don't like where this is going. "Yeah…"

"Is he kind of tall with-"

"What are you trying to tell me Lance?"

"Don't lose it…but I think he just went into that room with some girl...and she smelled like a vamp."

I growled and had the door open in the blink of an eye. I didn't have to turn on a light and I didn't have to ask who it was or who he was with. Well, I didn't know the name of who she was but the bloodsucker's scent clouded the room. I grabbed my boyfriend by the neck off of the leech that he was on top of and threw him on the floor. I found his shorts and threw them at him.

"What the _hell_?"

Oh yeah, that should definitely be the first thing that comes out of his mouth when I catch him in bed with someone else. I mean really, I leave him alone for barely an hour and suddenly he's having what damn well better be a drunken one night stand.

"Get out of here, Dominic," I murmured through gritted teeth. Sure, I was beyond pissed at him but this whore that was still on the bed definitely didn't make my mood any better. He scrambled across the room and found the light switch. He stared between the girl who had just found her bikini top and his current girlfriend. I was the one that he glared at. Just by looking at the way he was standing, I can definitely say that he was way past his limit. I wasn't sure if he could he even find the knob.

"Chanelle," he burped, "this has nothing to do with you."

I rolled my eyes and shoved him out the door. _Their_ scent hit me as I slammed it behind him. He smelled like her! There was no way that his keys were on him so hopefully someone out there could take care of him. Or at least that was what the compassionate part of my brain was thinking, but every other part of me was hoping that he falls down those stairs on his way out. I turned back to the vampire who had just tried to sleep with _my_ boyfriend. She was your cliché blonde hair blue-eyed girl with flawless skin and Hollywood's definition of a perfect shape. Now, in all honesty, I choose not to hate people, but just standing here looking at her made me want to change my mind about that. She stood up on the bed and bounced slightly.

"So dog…I guess you're pretty mad but you shouldn't be. I didn't sleep with that boy out of pleasure. I just needed a little drink for the day and I would say that he was a pretty good pick."

She had the voice of a hyperactive thirteen year old and the personality to match. She smiled at me playfully and hopped onto the floor. My lips pulled back over my teeth flauntingly displaying my fangs.

"You _drank_ from my boyfriend?" I asked. She giggled and took a step closer to me.

She shrugged. "I did and he wasn't too bad in the sack either."

That was it. My self-control was almost completely gone. The last bit that I had was for keeping myself from changing. It took me less than a second to clear the small amount of space between us. I held her by her throat against the wall above the headrest and she let out a quick squeak the second that her head hit. It was clear that she had only been surprised though, not hurt, not yet at least. A fight was what she was hoping for tonight and I considered that as I punched her repeatedly in that perfect little jaw of hers. She caught my hand sometime around the seventh hit and shoved me leaving me to bounce once before falling to the floor near the bedposts. She stood above me.

"You should know that with all of the noise you're making, we're going to have company soon."

She was right. I could actually _smell_ the hormones racing downstairs and people would start to wonder about the fight that they weren't seeing. Her foot collided with my side just above the damage that had just healed from when I had dealt with her 'brother' earlier. My jaw snapped together loudly and I yanked her down by her foot. She caught herself and jumped back up. She grabbed me and slammed me into the wall. The sound was just as loud and I was too pissed to pay attention to any pain that I should have been feeling. The door flew open and it was filled with nothing but guys.

I grabbed her by her shoulders while she was still staring at the door and forced her to the floor to let my frustration out on her jaw yet again…and her nose…and her eyes. The crowd behind us was screaming at the chick fight of the century which completely drowned out the sound of the people who had just walked into the room. The leech was trying to claw at my face by the time that I was picked up for what felt like the millionth time that night. Sadly, I didn't have to turn around to know that it wasn't Keith. It was Damon. The blonde and I were still trying to get at each other, but she was being held back by the southern vamp that I had run into earlier. He winked at me and I struggled even harder.

Damon tightened his grip and I calmed down enough to realize what it was that I was looking at. Across from us was one…three…six vampires including Jared. The crowd was silent as the tension filled the area. I shot them a deadly glare from my position in the bear hug that I was prisoner to and they scattered leaving the vampires and werewolves to talk freely.

"Put me down," I said. My poor waist had already taken a beating today and this was not helping it. Jared stepped up and Damon ignored me.

"What's your business here?" Damon asked, tightening his grip again when I tried to wiggle to the floor. UGH!

"Survival…is that so wrong?"

I rolled my eyes at Jared's comment and looked around. Where the hell is Keith? Was taking care of his drunk girlfriend really more important than this? As this angry thought progressed into a full out rant in my brain, I scanned my eyes over the leeches. There was a black-haired girl and boy, but it was the boy that held my attention. He sat on the bed looking everything but interested. There was just something about the way that he sat and messed with his long hair that seemed familiar. I tried my hardest to put a name with this perfect face. His eyes were a beautiful light brown and he was wearing nothing but a pair of red shorts.

His black hair stretched nearly halfway down his back. We shared the same skin tone and that made him seem even more familiar. And then it hit me. Tears stung the back of my eyes but there was no way that I was going to let them fall.

"Koda?" I whispered. His head turned in my direction at the sound of his name and he stared without blinking a single time.

"C?"

I nodded to the point that I thought that I was going to knock my own head right off of my shoulders. Everyone was staring at us. I guess they had still been talking. Oh well. They didn't matter to me right now. I pried at Damon's fingers until he finally dropped me, and ran over to my best friend. I crashed into him harder than I would have if I was still human, but he was strong enough now to handle it. The bed on the other hand squealed in protest. Don't get me wrong, I was insanely happy to see him, but that happiness changed unbelievably quick as his stench eventually started to choke me and the chill of his skin started to burn me. I pulled my arms away from him and slid to the opposite bedpost. He understood and looked down.

"You changed him?" I growled at Jared. And in true Jared fashion, he simply smiled at me.

"I'm sure you'll understand how easy it was for poor Christina here to get a tad bit carried away."

I glanced at the black-haired girl that he had gestured to and her green eyes went everywhere but anywhere near me.

"I doubt that anyone in your pack knows that better than you," he whispered. My eyes shot back to him. It's like they were purposely trying to get me to go against my 'hate is a strong word' policy. There was no way that he knew about what I had done to Keith earlier. I suddenly felt conscious of the redness of my lips. But how could Jared possibly know? He had been nowhere near us. Thinking about that reminded me of our time in the pool when I had first gotten here tonight. He wasn't wearing the towel anymore and the holes that had been there were nothing more than scratches. At that point, walking away was all that I could do to keep myself from starting a war in that rather large room. People watched me as I passed and whispered but why should that matter to me? They were probably just hoping that I get into another fight tonight. I was hopping down the stairs and with a breeze, I was blocked.

"What happened to you, Koda? You just disappeared last summer," I asked, pushing past him and leading him outside. The smell of the house in itself was starting to give me a headache and I was in serious need of air. I watched my best friend. He was taller than I remember and definitely more muscular.

"My mom got a new job and we had to pack up and go."

"You couldn't have called?"

He sighed and started kicking up grass. "I was going to, but some stuff happened before then. Do you remember the Sampson Blow-Out Bash on the last day of school last year?"

"Of course I do. We went together but you-"

"You left before I did. You were always the good girl at those parties, the designated driver," he whispered with a shy smile.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I was talking to this girl. We danced and then we ended up in one of the rooms upstairs…and now…here we are."

I pulled him down beside me on an empty bench away from the bar. "How are you handling the, you know?" I let the question hang there.

"The cravings?"

I nodded. He smiled sadly and ran his hands through his hair. His braces were gone.

"I was a monster for the first couple of months." – He let his head hang. –"I killed people, C. You know the routine. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, but Christina helped me. She took full responsibility for me and kept tabs on me until I got used to everything."

He brought his head back up and his eyes nearly broke my heart. They were just so sad! I think I actually shed a tear or two.

"You hate me now, don't you?" he asked when I didn't say anything. How could I possibly hate him? I almost killed a few times tonight myself and if it weren't for Keith I just might have.

"No. It's just a lot to take in."

"So what about you?"

He had perked up a bit and I was thankful for it.

"Oh, you know, I just found out that wolf runs in my family and that it hit my generation."

He laughed at my tone but stopped when he realized that I was being serious. "Oh…I was wondering what that smell was."

"So you're not surprised?"

He smiled playfully. "I'm a vampire. Are you seriously asking me that question? Besides, I saw you wailing on 'Selle. It was pretty obvious that either you've been working out a hella lot since I left, or you're not human anymore."

"Good point. Wait, 'Selle?"

"Oh, sorry, her name's Giselle. You know, the blonde chick that you beat the shit out of?"

Yep, he still loved himself a good girl fight. Sadly, I didn't have the chance to fully appreciate that fact. My ears twitched and I sighed. Keith and his girlfriend were in the pool and she was still loud and drunk.

"Someone I should know about it?" he asked. Great, I had been caught staring yet again. I leaned forward and smiled at Koda.

"It's complicated."

"Well, I've literally got all the time in the world, so I think I can handle a story." He grinned, but I still wasn't used to the whole vampire thing.

"His name is Keith."

"And what's so special about him?"

"I'm kind of in love with him against my will."

His confusion made me laugh. "Can we take a walk? This is going to take a while and it makes me a bit restless."

"Sure. There's definitely enough space around here. I can take you to my favorite spot."

He grabbed my hand and yanked me up. My best friend was back.


	11. Jagged Red Circles

**Chapter 10**

**Jagged Red Circles**

"Okay…so you imprinted on this guy and he's your soul mate?"

"My soul mate, love, other half, basically yeah. It all depends on how you look at it."

"Wow. That's pretty intense."

"Yeah, I know. It really sucks sometimes."

He laughed and nudged me. "I bet it does. So does he know?"

I pushed him back. "Yeah he does."

"So…if he's your other half or whatever…shouldn't he feel the same way?"

I opened my mouth to answer and then stopped myself. The dreams had told me that the answer to that question should be yes, but I wasn't so sure. Then again, the dreams had just explained what _I _was going through, not what was happening to Keith. And I would think that him being blind would add in a bit of a loophole to the theory. Koda and I had been together for just a few minutes and he had already confused me about my own life. I smiled.

"Why do you have to be so smart?" I asked, prodding him.

"Well, one of us has to be the smart one and we both know that it's not you."

I elbowed him in his ribs and he stumbled to the side a few feet.

"Hey, watch it. I don't think you know your own strength."

I put my hands up to my chest innocently as he caught up to me. "Aw, the big bad vamp can't handle it?"

He showed his fangs and hissed. I growled. He pounced and we both landed in some rose bushes. By this point in our walk, we were far away from the party and free to be our mythical creature selves. I kicked him off of me and crouched down waiting for him to come back up. To my surprise, he appeared behind me and picked me up by my waist. I squealed and wiggled around so that I was facing him. He dropped me but kept his arms around me. Our noses both wrinkled up and we laughed.

"You stink, babe," he whispered.

"The feeling's mutual," I whispered back. I was expecting him to let me go, but he just watched me with curious eyes. "Are you gonna let me go?" I asked.

"I don't have to breathe."

"Yeah well I do and you're making me nauseous."

He lifted his hands up in surrender. "_Touché_. I want to see you change."

That surprised me. Of all of the things that I had expected him to ask of me, that was definitely the last.

"What? Why?" I asked taking a step back and letting the night breeze clear my brain.

"Are you kidding? Why wouldn't I want to see my best friend change into a furry monster?"

Good ole' Koda. There's never a dull moment. "Okay, how about this, if you can pin me for five seconds I'll change."

"Deal."

He jumped for me and I dodged him. I stepped forward looking for him in the darkness.

"Come on, babe. I know you didn't think that it was going to be that easy."

"No, I didn't." His lips brushed against my ear and I turned and tackled him before he had the chance to hit me again. I bit his shoulder and let my teeth go just barely below the surface of his skin.

"OW!"

"God, baby, you taste terrible."

I felt and heard the snarl split through his chest as he kicked me off the same way that I had done him earlier. He disappeared again.

"Copycat," I yelled into the trees. He rustled branches, trying to confuse me. I took a step forward and then bolted up into the tree that he had unknowingly covered in his leech-ness. I jumped on him with a smile and somehow I was the one who ended up hitting the ground. The breath was knocked out of me as he lay over me snickering. He bared his teeth and I moved my neck out of the way before he could bite me.

"Whoa, whoa, watch the teeth. You bite me and I die."

He stared at me confused and almost as out of breath as I was. "What?"

I swallowed hard and coughed. "I'm sure you know about your venom, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That venom kills wolves. Technically it kills humans too, but we don't get to do the whole living dead thing."

He pulled his face up and started laughing. Personally, I wasn't seeing what could possibly be funny about that.

"Did I miss something?" I asked.

He stopped laughing long enough to form actual words. "I'm guessing that Jared told you that?"

"Yeah he did."

"He lied to you, C."

"And you know this how?"

I was skeptical, so sue me.

"I'm still a little new to this, so don't ask me how it works. All I do know is that we can control it. We don't change every human that we bite. We have venom and crap like that but it's easier to get a hang of once you're used to it. I guess the venom might kill _you_ though."

"You're going to have to forgive me for having a hard time believing this."

"You want me to show you?" he asked a tad bit too excitedly in my opinion.

"Um, let me think…no!"

"Why not?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"No I'm not."

"You're asking me to willingly let you experiment with something that could completely kill me!"

"But I know that it won't."

"You _think_ that it won't," I shot back.

"No, I _know_. If I couldn't control it then there would be tons of undead dead people walking around right now, but there isn't."

He was staring at me with anxious eyes. I felt bad for him but my life was in danger enough these days without me voluntarily risking it. He let out a sigh against my cheek and I had to fight the urge to lose consciousness and not gag at the same time. My head started to spin and my body temperature rose the way it used to before I changed. I held my breath for a second and the feeling passed.

"Are you dead?" he asked quietly.

"What?"

"Are you dead?" he asked again with a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

"No I'm not dead."

"Then I think that you owe me an apology. Look at your arm."

I glanced down at the spot just below my shoulder where he was looking to see a circular bite mark. It went just far enough below the surface of my skin for little spots of blood to pop up that he licked off quickly. I don't care how long I've known him, that will always be creepy to me, but he looked back up at my face as if nothing had just happened.

"Well, that could've been bad," I whispered as the smell from my own blood tickled my nostrils. I sneezed. He smiled at me devilishly.

"Okay, so do you want to do this now or wait 'til we get to the spot?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Don't think that just because I could've accidentally killed you just now, that you get out of changing for me."

"Fine, whatever. Where is this spot that you keep talking about?"

I pushed him off of me and he bounced up like a three year old hopped up on tons of sugar. "Come on. I'll show you. Just try to keep up."

We both started jogging and he disappeared in front of me. I thought that I was really starting to get a better grip on this whole supernatural thing. That is, of course, until I crashed into a lake. My brakes still weren't exactly perfect just yet and in my own defense I don't know this area. Koda was laughing at me from the edge of the water. Ignoring the slight burn on my skin from skidding on the top of the water so hard, I sunk under and waited for the splash letting me know that he had joined me. Silently, I snuck out of the cold water, stripped and changed before he finally poked his head back up. I dug my claws into the grass, laid myself out on my stomach and watched him climb out. He ran over to me and started playing with my fur. I couldn't blame him. The fuzz was one of my favorite things about all of this except for when it's me who's changing. Fur isn't exactly a sexy trait, but it does tickle.

"Interesting, you're a bit bigger than I would've expected."

I growled and he laughed while flipping the ends of my ears between his fingers.

"Hey, it's a full moon tonight. Shouldn't you be howling or something?"

I looked up at the moon over the lake. It wasn't hard to tell why he had led me here. The exotic flowers were beautiful and made the place smell amazing. The water was perfectly serene and there was even a comfortable breeze rather than freezing night air. It was all so pretty that I couldn't help but to humor him. A long howl ripped its way through my lungs making him jump beside me. Neither one of us had expected it to be that loud or strong, but I loved it! Sadly, I didn't really get much time to enjoy it. My ears swiveled at the sound and smell of one of his fellow leeches coming our way. I jumped up and snarled. My body lowered instinctively preparing to attack. Koda took in a deep breath and then stepped in front of me slowly. He put his hand in front of my nose.

"Relax and wait," he whispered. My fur stood on end and the snarling kept right on going. The footsteps that came were practically silent as a small figure ran through the trees and stopped a few feet away from us. It was a good thing that I had already changed, because if not then I would be shaking freakishly hard right now. My growling got worse and I had scared the black-haired girl that they called Christina. She stared at Koda with wide eyes and he hit me in my nose. I barked at him and he stared me down. He couldn't possibly be mad at me for disliking the girl who killed him. I wasn't supposed to like him period considering what he is but I can only make but so many exceptions in my life.

He ran behind me and threw my bathing suit at me. He's my best friend and all, but he's really starting to piss me off. I took all of the pieces in my mouth and shot Christina another glare and a growl before leaving to change and strolling back. Koda had his arm over her shoulder by then and he looked up at me. By this point, I was aggravated for a whole new reason. There was a hole at the bottom of my sarong from one of my teeth.

"You didn't have to freak her out like that," he scolded.

"I'm having a hard time believing that I did, but I'm sorry if I seem a bit hostile," I said, rolling my eyes. "So, what are you doing here?"

Koda was still glaring but he can yell at me later. Christina relaxed in his arms when she noticed my sudden lack of wolf-ness.

"I heard you howl so I assumed that Koda would be here," she whispered. How did this girl manage to survive in that house? She was absolutely nothing like her 'relatives' that I had already met. I couldn't help but to feel at least the tiniest bit sorry for her.

"And why would you assume that?"

I started flicking dirt out from underneath my nails while watching her. That seemed to make her nervous all over again. I guess that makes sense. My nails weren't wolf-like or anything but they had grown and they didn't break as easily as they used to.

"Well, Koda talked about you a lot when I first met him and all of the other dogs are at the party. So it had to be you."

I smiled, making sure that she could see my fangs, and stepped closer. Her whole body seemed to tense.

"You can relax. I'm not going to jump you or anything. Besides, even if I wanted to I'm sure that Koda here wouldn't let me. Or at least he would try to stop me. But it would be nice if you wouldn't use the term 'dog' around me. If anything, I prefer wolf." She nodded quickly. I traced a line from Koda's left shoulder down to his right while she watched. They both trembled. My finger felt frozen when I pulled it back. – "So what's the story here?" I asked.

"You already know," Koda growled. She gasped as I flicked a piece of her hair. Jeez this girl was jumpy. Am I really that threatening? I strolled back around and stopped in front of Koda staring directly into his eyes. They seemed dark even in the dark. And I know that that should make sense, but for Koda it didn't. Before all of this his eyes had always seemed bright no matter how much lighting there was. I sighed and crossed my arms stubbornly in front of him. His expression relaxed slowly.

"No. I know how you ended up turning into a leech and how you two met. Obviously there's more to it," I said.

He let out a deep breath through his nose that ruffled my hair and we both smiled. I noticed Christina watching us curiously from the corner of my eyes.

"He's a great guy."

I smiled even wider. She had finally said something with confidence tonight. I turned to her and she stood her ground. Something in her head must've finally clicked.

"Yeah, I know. So you better take care of him,"- I smiled back at him yet again. –"especially since I have enough guys to babysit let alone having to watch your ass like old times."

He smirked. "You know you love my ass."

I gave him a quick shove. "Don't flatter yourself, babe. Now, I'll just leave you two alone. I have an asshole of a boyfriend to check on."

I readjusted my top and then ran back down the path that Koda and I had taken to get here. The party was still going but it seemed like there were a few less people than before. As expected, my cousins weren't in the same places that they had been in earlier and Dominic was making out with some random girl that I had seen once maybe twice at school. I know that Dominic is never on his best behavior when he drinks, but he was downright horny tonight. I yanked him up by his arm this time and started dragging him to his truck. My grip tightened the more he struggled.

"Chanelle, what the hell is your problem? Why should you care if I have a little fun? It's not like I was screwing her."

I swung him so that he was in front of me and heard a small pop from his shoulder. His hand shot up to it but he was just being a wimp. There was no way that it was dislocated. At very worse it probably stung but if it was anything worse then he was probably too drunk to feel it. He was really starting to push my anger levels off of the charts. It was like he wanted me to go off on him tonight.

"Yeah, you weren't screwing her when I walked up but were you planning on it? We have a rough patch and suddenly you can't keep it in your pants? What the hell is that about, huh? Just how many whores were you planning on sleeping with tonight? Come on, tell me. I'm dying to know!"

"So I was with one girl tonight and I made out with a few others. How many of the guys in that little group of yours have _you_ done lately?"

"Most of them are my cousins you pervert and _I _haven't slept with anyone tonight!"

My voice was impossibly loud and I was fighting to keep the trembling under control. I took a few deep breaths while he glared at me. Wait, just how many is a few?

"Everyone knows that that's a lie, Chanelle. I can believe that some of the others are related to you, but I've seen the way that you look at that really huge guy. You've never looked at me that way."

"And I never will," I hissed. He stared at me like I had just shot him in the heart.

"So it's like that now?"

I shifted my weight from side to side and crossed my arms.

"Look, even if I could explain this to you, I don't know if I would. With everything that you've done tonight, I don't think that I can trust you the same way. You can't just go off and get drunk every time something goes wrong. That's dangerous!"

"So are you telling me that we're officially done because that's the vibe that I've been getting from you for a while now?"

"I'd rather talk about it in the morning, but for now, you're going home."

Before he had a chance to throw a fit, I found a pocket on his shorts that was holding his keys, opened his door, threw him in, and started speeding to his house.

"H-how did you do that?" he stammered.

"Do what?" I asked innocently. He stared at me and then shook his head. If he weren't drunk then I seriously wouldn't have gotten away with that. He was silent in the passenger's seat for the entire ride. When did it all come to this? We were so happy together and now we do nothing but fight. I know that love isn't exactly common in these high school relationships these days, but I thought that maybe Dominic and I could get there eventually. But who am I kidding, right? No matter how hard I fight it Keith will always be in the picture. He may see me the same way at some point or he might not. Either way, we both felt something tonight that we couldn't explain and couldn't forget. It's just a matter of time until we confront it. As long as we're wolves, we can't deny it and I'm pretty sure that that's a permanent thing.

I parked in front of Dominic's house and handed him his keys.

"Here, now go inside and go to your room. I'll come up to check on you in a second and don't say anything to your parents if they're up."

Slowly, he took his keys and stumbled his way into his house while I sat in the car and tried to listen for any signs of his parents being awake. I smiled weakly. He got his snoring from his mom. It was a sad fact but true none the less. I couldn't hear any sounds coming from any of the TVs in the house so his dad was most likely asleep too. I stepped out of Dominic's truck, locked it and headed around back to his balcony. He opened the door and grabbed me the second that I was in his room. His lips shot to mine but what he didn't know was that he was undeniably making me sick. He tasted like spit, leech, and alcohol. The thought of where his mouth has been tonight honestly repulsed me enough to make me unintentionally push him away, knocking him onto his bed. He got excited for absolutely nothing.

"Have I told you how unbelievably sexy you look tonight?" he asked. I rolled my eyes, walking past him to scan his house for a bucket and towel. Bored with walking, I ran and made it back in less than a minute to see him sitting up on his bed rubbing his head. Leaving him in his shorts, I pulled him up and put him in the shower and ran cold water on him. He just stood there staring blankly at the wall and blinking while the water hit his eyelids. His reaction time was starting to scare me. Surely he should be doing something right now, I felt the water myself and it was freezing! His hand shot out to the wall and he lowered himself down to the floor of the tub. Come on baby move. I just needed some sign that he was feeling the water. He pulled his knees up and leaned on them. I sat on the lid of the toilet and kept watching him.

How much alcohol had he had tonight? He had been in there for over a minute now. I dropped down on my knees beside him and he turned his head towards me. Come on. Come on. Finally, his body jolted in one huge tremor and his teeth started to clash against each other in his mouth. I jumped up and turned off the water. He tried to stand up and I practically dragged him back to his room. I dried him off and laid him under the blankets before wetting the towel with warm water. His eyes bounced back and forth while he watched me dab his cheeks and forehead. What happened to him? This wasn't the Dominic that I had come close to falling in love with. This wasn't the Dominic that I dated for over a year. And this certainly wasn't _my_ Dominic. He had been my first in every way that counts and I think that that was what was hurting me the most.

Sure, I was going through some changes, but I wasn't his only one anymore. And if he would've slept with one of the human girls at the party then I guess that that would be one thing. But he slept with a vamp and even after his shower there were still traces of her scent on him. My free hand traveled down the skin of his chest and stopped about midway. The trembling started again as my nails slid across the bite mark that was right next to his slowly beating heart. I could see it clearly and it was smaller than the one that Jared had left on Sheila.

This one was perfectly clean and already starting to heal. By now it was almost nothing more than a jagged, red circle that stood out against his caramel tone. I watched his eyes flicker before kissing his forehead and standing up to leave. He was snoring by the time that I made it through the door. I stopped and glanced at the clock on his dresser through the glass. Fabulous, it was two seventeen. I'm as good as dead.


	12. Carvings

**Chapter 11**

**Carvings**

I jumped onto my balcony and slid my door open only to sigh at the sight of my parents waiting for me on my bed. Of course they would be up waiting for me. My dad turned on my lamp. They had definitely planned this. I bet they knew that I was going to be late and they've been plotting how to make this as dramatic as possible all day. I locked the door behind me and slumped down on my bean bag, just narrowly missing Diamond who seemed to be the only living thing in this house that was actually sleeping. I wouldn't doubt that Crystal is awake and listening for the show. I sat Diamond on my lap without waking her and waited for the fireworks from my parents.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to be back from the party over an hour ago," my dad asked. I was in luck. He smelled faintly of alcohol so I was getting my nice dad for the night. Thank goodness. If I would've come in this late without him having a drink today then this encounter wouldn't be fun for anyone. My mom sat with an angry yet tired glare. This was going to be a long night.

"I was out with the pack," I said in barely over a whisper. I don't care how strong I get or how fast I am, I will _always_ be scared of my parents. Diamond whimpered in her sleep from her place on my legs. Man, I wish I could trade places with her right about now.

"Chanelle, I know that you have responsibilities to the pack, but that doesn't mean that you get to stay out at all hours of the night. We were sitting here thinking that the absolute worst things had happened. I was having a hard enough time dealing with the idea of you going to a party held by vampires, but when we couldn't even get in touch with you-"

My dad took over for my mom while I dipped farther into the bag. Had this thing always been this comfortable or was I just that tired? I guess it would make sense. I can't remember the last time that I really had a good night's sleep.

"You're grounded. Unless Damon needs you, then you go to school and come home. I don't want Dominic here and I don't want you using your phone unless you're calling family. Are we clear?" he asked. I nodded my head, sniffing back the tear that had been fighting to get out from the very second that my dad had said Dominic's name. They wouldn't have to worry about Dominic anytime soon. We might as well be done by this point. Obviously I still have feelings for him, but I don't think that I'll ever really able to look at him the same way again. With all of the fights and problems, it's all just too much right now. But, maybe we're better off this way. It'll give me time to figure out this whole Keith thing. But then again, what is there to figure out? Dominic will never be able to compete. There's no question at all about that.

My parents filed out of my room and after putting Diamond back on her bed I went and laid down on mine. It felt amazing to finally be able to lie down and know that I wouldn't have to jump back up in a few minutes, but even still I couldn't really relax. Not with all of the things that I had discovered tonight. Keith and Erin had completely invaded my brain. She was so ungrateful of what she has. Out of all of the girls who would probably kill to date Keith, she's the one who gets him? What kind of justice is that? She's probably drunk so often that she can barely remember any of the time that they've spent together.

In my opinion, he deserves better and I'm not even talking about me. Hell, I'm screwed up enough as it is. I'd just be happy if he could end up with somebody who can be left alone for five minutes and not come up dead. And what did happen between Keith and I tonight? Every time that we touched there was that spark. I readjusted as I thought about it. Lord, I wanted that feeling again. It was kind of a sensual burn I guess. But regardless of his touch, his taste was better than anything. Don't get me wrong, I hate myself for thinking it but that doesn't make it any less true. The thought of me enjoying that sickened me but intrigued me at the same time. And it wasn't just his blood that I had loved but his scent and his skin and that made my mind wander to his lips…

My jaw tensed. My first time would have to be my last. Sure there was something in me that stopped me from killing him, but what if that something doesn't come around if it happens again and I can't control myself?

My body started to rock in tremors. I couldn't help but to be mad at myself. I screwed up tonight. I drank from him and enjoyed it. What's wrong with me? I would easily bet that I was the only one in the group who's actually tasted blood like that. I really am turning into a monster. The rocking got worse as I shot up on my bed, threw my hands in my hair and tried to force myself to breathe. And let me tell you, that wasn't an easy thing to do. My jaw locked and a grunt made its way out. My eyes started to burn and I stumbled my way over to my mirror. I gripped the wood of the dresser, loosening my hands a bit when I felt splinters try to make their way into my dense skin. My eyes were so dark! I couldn't even find my pupils.

I took a step back. It was clear that I needed to calm down, but more importantly, I wanted to tire myself out. I stripped and made it outside seconds before the pop came along with the slight pain. I sat on the balcony for a second, just stretching my claws. They felt extra sharp this time around. With the tiniest bit of effort, I edged little slits into the wood before jumping and hitting the ground running. The guys probably knew that I had changed, but it was comforting to be the only one in my head tonight. It made it a lot easier for me to focus on how terrible of a person I am. I jumped through the gaps between the trees following some trail that I wasn't familiar with. This was what I wanted though. I needed to get lost until I found myself and I couldn't do that in a place that held memories. They're too distracting.

The only living things around were animals and some people a few miles ahead of me. I stopped and peeked through the bushes. I had no idea that people actually camp out here, but sure enough there were tents and bags scattered all over the area. My guess would be that this was some kind of church group. Because it was probably around three or four in the morning, they were all asleep except for a girl and boy who both couldn't be much older than ten. They were just sitting and talking about how homesick they were. The little boy was worried about the animals in the forest and the little girl was trying to convince him that he was just being paranoid. I sat there and smiled in my mind. The little boy was right to be afraid. I could hear their little hearts pounding, sending blood pulsing through their veins, not to mention their friends in the tents. Luckily for them, however, not only was I tired, but I didn't want them.

I may be in wolf form or whatever but I'm still human nonetheless. And, to be honest, after everything that had gone on, blood was the last thing that I wanted. Well…I did crave it a bit, but I was willing to fight it for their sakes. Besides, the last thing that I wanted to do tonight was cause a massacre. I slid back silently and headed home. When I finally made it back to my room and changed, I slipped into a pair of underwear and just didn't have it in me to find the shirt and shorts that I usually sleep in. I blacked out the second that my skin touched the sheets of my bed.

That night, or I guess morning, I was perfectly relaxed. I didn't dream of any stories or sins or prophecies. For once, I didn't even dream about Keith or anything involving him. My dream wasn't even a dream. It was simply black and _that _was what I needed. My body had been begging for the chance to go back to normal after all of this and I was thankful to finally get it. But of course, it didn't last. I tossed and turned, not wanting to wake up just yet but the sun was determined to kill my moment of bliss. But of course, the golden rays had a bit of help when the most beautiful scent hit my nose and my brain identified it: Keith. My eyes cracked open to see the wall that I had turned over to face in my sleep. I turned and my sheets ruffled on top of me.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw Keith's massive body sitting in my desk chair. His eyes were closed and he was leaning back looking exhausted but breathtaking nonetheless. He was in nothing but a pair of loose jeans and I found myself staring at his tat again. Wait! Why in the hell is he in my room? I sat up and he jumped. I watched him confused. What else could I do? There was a huge bodybuilder-sized guy sitting in my room with my entire family in the house. I glanced over at the clock. Great, it's almost noon.

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. For a second, I felt awkward due to the fact that I was lying in my bed in nothing but my underwear, but then I remembered that he was blind and I've been completely naked around him before. He ran his hand through his hair and yawned.

"Why are you here?" I whispered, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and going to the dresser to find something to wear.

"I think we need to talk," he whispered back. Oh, so now we need to talk. He didn't say that before we went to the party but suddenly he shows up in my room when I'm practically naked _and _grounded? Safe to say, I've never had a boy in my room before and he's really proving my reason as to why. My parents could come up at any second if they heard. And what if Crystal came in? I'd never be able to leave the house for as long as I live.

"I can't. I'm grounded and you need to get out before my parents come in."

He sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Your mom's already been in to check on you."

I stopped what I was doing and stared at him. He knew what I was thinking. Who wouldn't?

"Do you honestly think that I would be in here right now if she saw me?" he asked sarcastically.

"I don't know. You tend to brainwash people," I muttered, turning back to my clothes hunt. After a few seconds, I just decided on my pink school tank top and my usual black shorts. To my surprise, he gave a small chuckle and I had to fight to keep my composure. I went back to my bed, now fully dressed, and watched him.

"I've never brainwashed anyone in my life, but if you learn how then let me know." He stood up and looked toward my bedroom door. "Just think of something. I'll be outside."

He slipped out through my glass door without making a sound and not even a full twenty seconds later, my mom walked in.

"Hey, I'm glad to see you finally up. You looked so tired that you didn't even have your sheets on."

I guess that explains how I woke up with them on me this morning. I stretched my back until I heard a comfortable crack and then shook my hair for a second.

"Is it okay with you if I take a walk?"

She looked at me curiously. I guess that a walk first thing on a Saturday wasn't exactly normal for me.

"I don't know. You're still grounded. Don't you at least want breakfast?"

Now that she mentioned it, I was starving! "I do, I just really needed to stretch. I won't go far. I'll leave my car keys and everything."

Then again, I can move faster without my car if I really push myself, but I don't need to bring that to her attention.

"Okay, but don't take long."

I nodded and started walking downstairs just to be blocked by Crystal.

"So what did you do last night? You were out way late! You got grounded, didn't you?"

I pushed her to the side and went through the front door. Of course, she wasn't willing to give up that easily. She jumped in front of me walking backwards.

"Come on, sis, share."

"You know, you're really starting to ruin this walk for me."

"It's my job."

I sighed. This wasn't what I had in mind for today, but then again, I never know what to expect anymore.

"Go back in and I'll give you a full re-cap after breakfast, alright?"

She smiled excitedly and nodded. I listened for the sound of her closing the door before walking to the end of the driveway, across the street and into the trees. Keith was waiting for me on a rock and I was starting to get dizzy from his scent. Why couldn't I just go back to my room and sleep?

"What did you need to talk about?" I asked crossing my arms. Okay, so I was a tad irritated with him. I deserve to be. He woke me up from the best night's sleep that I've had in weeks. Well, the sun woke me up but he's what kept me up.

"Why did you leave the party early?" he asked.

"I had to take care of something. I don't see why that would concern you."

Alright, I was more than irritated at him. And imprinting or not, when I'm pissed, I'm pissed and he's not just going to get out of that. I have to admit though his worried eyes were making it pretty hard for me to stay mad.

"Fine, I just thought I'd ask."

"What's with you? Are you bipolar or something?" I asked.

He tilted his head at me. It was really bothering me the way his eyes were digging into me. Jeez, it's like he was trying to scramble my brain with his brain or whatever they do with mind powers in old comic books.

"I'm not bipolar. It's just getting harder and harder to fight."

"Fight what? Fill me in because I'm still not completely clear on why you're here."

Shouldn't he be off somewhere holding Erin's hair while she pukes on some poor innocent street? He chuckled again, but not in the happy way. His eyes started traveling along the treetops.

"You," he whispered with his eyes still scanning. What? Was I supposed to understand that? I mean, I know I'm not that bright but I have a feeling that that was supposed to make more sense to me than it did. "You're getting harder to fight."

"And why is it that you're fighting me?"

He surprised me with an angry snarl. Well, I won't be asking that question again. His left knee was almost all the way up to his chest and he was holding onto it pretty tight.

"I want to stay with Erin. I _need_ to stay with Erin….She needs me."

I went from crossing my arms in anger to holding myself to keep me all together when he said that last sentence. I don't doubt that she needs him. Any girl would after being with his softer side, but she needs someone to take care of her.

"I'm not asking you to leave her."

That was all that I could think to say. He pushed himself off of the rock so that he was standing a few feet away from me.

"You don't get it! I can't think about anything other than your scent for more than five minutes. When I'm sitting still, all I can do is play those memories from Damon's mind over and over again just because I can actually see you in them. And…when I'm with Erin, all I can do is wonder if you're okay because if you haven't noticed, you attract dangerous situations."

A nervous smile played on his lips and I truly felt bad for him.

"So you finally get it?" I asked quietly.

"For the most part, yeah, I think that I do."

"So what are you telling me here? I'm not asking you to dump Erin."

"I know that you're not and I'm not yelling at you."

"That's funny 'cause it kind of sounds like you are."

"Could you be serious?"

Good, now I wasn't the only one who was mad. "I would if you would just be straight with me. What are you going to do?"

"What are you going to do about Dominic?"

I grunted and forced a hand through my hair. "That's really up to him."

"So you're going to try to work it out with him?"

"I don't know, maybe."- I started pacing. –"Did you hear about my fight?"

His eyebrow peaked curiously. "That was you?"

"Yeah, Dominic screwed one of the leeches and I walked in on it."

His eyes softened and his shoulders dropped. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Are we done here?" Why was I being so mean? He looked so disappointed. I doubled back. "I'm sorry. It's just that I have to get back. My mom is probably going to send out a search party soon," I said, taking a step closer to him.

"It's fine. I get it," he whispered. I moved as quietly as I could without giving his senses too much of a clue as to what I was about to do. I slid my hands from his stomach up to the base of his neck and smiled at the feeling as I noticed that it was starting to become more and more familiar. He shook but didn't pull back. I pushed myself up to the very tips of my toes getting as close to his ear as I could and whispered, "I understand you trying to help her. Don't think that I don't but don't forget that you have a life too."

And with that, I turned and ran back home before I did something that would result in me being much later than I already was. I rubbed my eyes and made sure that I was all together before walking into the house.

Let me tell you, it took a hell of a lot of work to walk away from him just then. His fragrance was still floating around in my brain and knocking out the things that I was supposed to be thinking about. I sat down to the pancakes and milk that my mom had already fixed me. I really wished that she would've just let me do it myself. She's been running around here enough as it is but for the life of me I can't understand why making breakfast relaxes her so much.

I sniffed and smiled at the chocolate chips and their melted goodness. Looking at them now was like seeing them through new eyes. I guess my change had been pretty gradual, but my sight really was getting better. It had to be at least twice as strong now and I had 20/20 to start with. But of course, it didn't compare to my wolf eyes. Nothing did.

Crystal plopped down in the chair beside me by the time that I had already downed half of the pancakes and most of the milk. I sighed and slipped another piece of pancake into my mouth. She watched me anxiously awaiting the beginning of our spill session. This wasn't the first time that we'd had one of these. For sisters, we're pretty close. I've helped her with a few of her small-time playground troubles, and she's helped me through boyfriend problems.

"You know the routine. What's said here doesn't leave here, agreed?"

"Agreed."

I smiled at her enthusiasm. "I'm assuming that you've checked the perimeter?" I asked in a super spy type persona. She jerked her head in a hyperactive nod.

"So were there vampires there?" she asked in a whisper. I leaned back, my hand unconsciously slipping to my formerly shattered waist.

"They were the ones who were throwing the party."

Her eyes practically exploded with excitement. She doesn't get that that isn't exactly a good thing. In fact, it's a really bad thing especially considering the fact that the main one has a vendetta against me, but hey, you know whatever gets you through the day. I finished off my breakfast and slid the plate away from me.

"What about the guys there?"

"Don't even think about it. They're all too old and too horny for you."

I frowned just as she did, but for a completely different reason. I was thinking about Dominic and what he had done. I really shouldn't lead him on. Keith was my forced mate and there was no changing that. Dominic even smelled different to me nowadays. It's not that he smelled bad, it was just that he didn't exactly smell good. Crystal snapped her fingers in front of me, bringing me back down to earth.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she argued.

"I thought you wanted to talk about the party, not your hormone rush."

"Okay, fine, what else happened?"

"Do you remember Koda?"

She thought long and hard, and I mean _really_ hard. I sighed, leaned back, and waited for the little gears in her head to turn.

"That guy that you used to hang out with all the time?"

"Yeah, him; he's a vamp now."

"Seriously?" she screamed. "Since when? What happened? Did you try to kill him?"

I smiled, thinking about the happier part of my night.

"He's been that way for a while now and no I didn't try to kill him. We did wrestle a bit though."

She looked confused. I guess it was pretty abnormal, but what wasn't these days? My ear flicked and I looked up. Was that my phone? I don't remember turning it on. Or did I leave it on last night? I stood up and jogged up the stairs. Yep, that's definitely my ringtone. The silly little jingle that had come with the phone was pulsing in my ears from my phone's spot under the folds of my blanket. Dominic was calling me. To answer or to let it go to voicemail, that is the question. With a groan, I flipped my phone open.

"Hello?"

"Chanelle?"

"Yeah, Dominic, what is it?"

God, he sounded sick. "Do you think you could meet me somewhere today?"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?"

"You sound like you're about to die. I really don't think that you should be anywhere today. Besides, I know you can't hide that monster hangover. You're gonna be grounded as soon as your parents see you."

"They already have and I already am."

"So you were planning on sneaking out?"

"Basically, yeah."

"No."

"What is with you? You used to love sneaking out."

I closed my eyes, fighting to keep all of me under control. Breathe in. Breathe out, in, out.

"Please don't tell me who I am or was, Dom. I'm grounded and I have enough stuff going on right now. It's probably just a matter of time before they take my phone. And you know the last thing I want to do is fight with you today. So how about we just take a breather for now?"

I heard nothing but the sound of a flush on the other end. I pressed the end button and turned it off. If it weren't for the fact that I really like my phone and would hate to break it, I without a doubt would've chucked it against the wall. But, instead, I sat it down on my dresser and went on the porch to sit. The breeze was nice but it was hot today. On days like these I seriously wish that we had a pool. My nose wrinkled up and a chill snaked down my spine.

"Koda?"

"Damn. You've got one hell of a sniffer on you, C," said my invisible best friend. I could hear his footsteps. He was running and whispering and I could hear him. He wasn't far now, maybe a few yards, more or less. I leaned back on my chair relaxing. His scent already stood out to me more than the other vamps and I was thankful that it was him. I really wasn't up for another session with Jared this morning, or Keith. Koda's head popped up over the side of the balcony as he glided over to stand in front of me. That disturbed me. He's never been clumsy or anything, but graceful had never been a part of his description. Now that I had gotten over the shock of seeing him again, I was noticing more of the obvious changes. He used to be a dork. He was _my_ dork and now he's this… thing. His acne was completely gone along with any other trace of his awkward puberty phase. He was shirtless, most likely trying to flaunt his look.

A distressingly defined six-pack took the place of his baby fat and his arms weren't jelly but instead the definition of muscular. I guess he looked good, but his smell was really making it hard for me to tell. I don't know, maybe I was starting to get used to that too. He noticed me noticing him, but anyone could have see that. I was staring at him with my head cocked to the side and my lips in a tight line. It's like my vision had been getting better and better every day, but after Keith really had me open up my senses last night, I've felt like a deer in headlights. Everything seems so bright and vivid. It's like how they describe those high-def TV's only a gazillion times better.

"Like the view?" he asked after about a minute. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't checking him out. I don't think of him like that and thanks to Keith, I'm sure that I never will. I think surveying would be a better word for what I was doing.

"To be honest, I'm not sure."

He crossed his arms with an exaggerated frown on his face. I crossed my legs and leaned back, focusing on his face rather than his smell. I guess after all the changes his eyes were the only things about him that had truly stayed the same. Sure they had this new tint to them and they seemed somewhat more dangerous, but they were his pure brown eyes. Wait, weren't they just black last night?

"So what's wrong?" he asked, pulling me away from my observations.

"Whatever do you mean?" I asked with sarcasm. He crossed his arms, reading me.

"No really. What's the issue today?"

"It's guy problems, I doubt that you want to hear about it."

"Then you doubt right. Maybe you need to vent?"

"And who would I vent to?"

"Christina loves stuff like this."

My jaw clenched. "You did that just to irritate me, didn't you?"

He smiled his now irritatingly flawless smile. Some girls would be losing their minds right about now, but I wasn't impressed.

"No…okay, maybe. She does love listening to this kind of stuff though."

"You know exactly why I wouldn't want to do that."

"No, I don't. Why don't you enlighten me?"

"I don't see why I need to. You know that I don't like her."

"You're going to have to get over that. We have a connection. I can't really explain it."

Aw, now I feel bad again. It wasn't fair for me to insult his relationship with this Christina chick when what they had was far more natural than what Keith and I had been stuck with.

I gestured for him to sit down in front of me and I lowered myself on the floor a few inches away. We were sitting across from each other like little kids in kindergarten.

"I'm sorry that I've been so bitchy, but in my defense I am part dog now."

He laughed at my bad joke and leaned back on his hands. "Well you still have your suckish sense of humor so I guess you're not doing that bad."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

We both smiled and relaxed despite that tiny bit of unnatural tension that just came with what we've become. I let my nails carve their way into the wood and his muscles tensed and relax.


	13. Beautiful Nightmare

**Chapter 12**

**The Stranger & the Rose**

"I think you have a visitor," Koda whispered playfully after we had been talking for who knows how long.

"Yeah, I know. You're gonna stick around and meet him?"

A devilish smile played across his lips. "Well, I do think that it's about time that I met the family, don't you?"

I smiled, but let it drop. Damon wasn't the only one here. I stood up and went back into my room, leaving the door open behind me. I opened the door that led to the hallway and walked downstairs to find two tall figures standing in the living room with my mom. I stopped at the sight of Keith and crossed my arms as if we hadn't just had two incredibly awkward talks this morning.

"Hey Shell," Damon said as he and Keith started walking over to me and the staircase that I was standing on. I wasn't completely sure how to react to that so I simply turned around and led them up to my room and out to where Koda was still waiting patiently. They had both started frowning the second that they were out of my mom's hearing range, which wasn't very far. Koda simply watched them with a perfectly playful air practically flowing out of him.

"You can relax. Do you honestly think that he would be out here if I didn't want him to be? He's an old friend. Damon, you might remember him if you think hard enough."

I took my place back in front of Koda and turned back to see if they were at least attempting to calm down. I know that Koda would love the challenge of taking on two wolves at once and I know that they would love to kill him. Problem is, this wouldn't be a game and my neighbors wouldn't exactly love the noise, violence, or gore of the situation. I sighed and leaned back on my hands and gave up any hope for a comfortable talk.

"Did you need to talk to me?" I finally asked.

Damon sat down in my chair and leaned his elbows on his thighs. I guess that's a start.

"We just wanted to check on you."

I was thankful that he wasn't holding onto my chair. By how tense his arms looked, I'm pretty sure that he would've broken it. Keith leaned against the railing with his arms crossed keeping himself at a distance from Koda…and me. Koda cleared his throat unnecessarily loud and raised his eyebrows at me. Introduction time.

"Koda, this is Damon and Keith. Damon…Keith…Koda."

Koda nodded at them and they did the same. Damon watched him, probably trying to remember the little boy that would come over to my house and play for hours on end. I guess that it would make sense if Damon didn't remember him. He didn't see Koda anywhere near as often as I did. Koda smirked at Keith and then back at me.

"So, by the way that she keeps trying to not look at you and the way that your testosterone picks up when you turn in her direction, I'm guessing that you're Keith. I've heard a lot about you."

Heat flowed through every part of me and I've never been so thankful that I don't blush. I would have to massacre him later when my bodyguards weren't hanging around. But then again, they might enjoy it. Stupid leech.

"Don't analyze me, corpse. There's a lot that you don't know," Keith growled. Koda only smiled harder.

"But I know more than you think that I do. And you know you should be thankful. You could've fallen for much worse than C here. Trust me, I know."

"Yeah I bet you do. You're with the small vamp, right?"

I stood up. "Okay. This has been fun-"

"Yeah, I am. Was there a point behind that question?" Koda asked, still sitting and smiling.

"Well that would be worse, right? But of course, I bet she's more fun on physical terms though," Keith said, moving his weight from his left leg to his right. They both seemed calm, but their voices were hitting me like wrecking balls. Damon was still leaning forward ready to jump in case anything broke out. Koda shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess she is, but don't underestimate Chanelle. She's not always the good girl that she tries so hard to be." –He winked at me. –"Tell me, C, are Piña Coladas still your favorite?"

With a gasp, I pounced, sending both of us through the back of my balcony. I held him down by his neck snarling uncontrollably. The weirdest part about it though was the fact that I wasn't even completely sure on why I had attacked him. Something in me just told me that he was about to say something that I didn't want them to hear, and I was willing to keep him quiet. Taking a few deep breaths, I sat on his stomach with my hands still pinning him down and leaned in, attempting to lower my voice enough that they wouldn't be able to hear me even though I knew that Keith, at least, would still know what I was saying.

"Why would you say that to him?"

"Do you honestly not remember?" he asked while rubbing his neck.

"Remember wha-?"

I stopped mid-sentence. Oh. It had been so long ago, and I had fought so hard to push it as far out of my mind as possible. It was my first time drinking and I wasn't as eager to do it again after. I leaned back and took my hands off of him. He watched me and let out a sigh. My eyes were blurred by tears and the next thing I knew I was gasping against his too-frozen chest. Suddenly, there was too much warmth around me but not as close as the ice. I wiped at my eyes as Koda rocked and shushed me. Growling controlled the atmosphere.

"Stop!" I finally managed to squeak out after nearly three failed attempts. I looked around once my eyes were clear to see Keith crouched and moving closer.

"What did you do to her?" he asked. Koda hissed, tightening his grip around me protectively.

"Back off, Cujo, she doesn't need you to spring into action. She's not in any danger."

Keith moved closer. "Says you."

"Keith, Chanelle knows him better than anyone. He doesn't want to hurt her," said Damon.

Koda ignored Damon. "Hell yeah says me. You may not know me but I wouldn't hurt her. Of course, how should I know that _you_ wouldn't? You've known her for what, like a week? I've practically known her my whole life."

"Let her go."

"Why so you can take her and play superhero? Or maybe you want to knock her up so you can pass on your little wolf genes. You wolves are all the same. That's what this whole imprinting this is about, isn't it? Passing on the trait comes first. So after she has your kid what comes next? You have the next little dog in the pack, but what about her?"

Keith backed off, uncertainty mixing with the anger in his eyes. I pushed off of Koda until I was on my feet. They had some nerve, fighting over me and not even bothering to pay any attention to me. I have one little bad memory, a few tears and suddenly I'm a broken toy to be observed and passed around. I wiped the last of my tears away and kept my body from shaking.

"I am no damsel in distress! I don't need bodyguards, and I think that it's time for all of you to leave. Now!"

They all stared at me. Keith and Koda measured each other up one last time before going their separate ways and leaving from the directions that they had come. I jumped up to my balcony and into my room to collapse on my bed and ball myself up into the fetal position. Was Koda right? I mean, if you think about it, in the animal kingdom, finding the right mate is all about passing along the trait. Darwin's Theory of Evolution, survival of the fittest, it all revolves around producing the strongest offspring. And whose genes would be stronger for a wolf than mine and Keith's?

What if the rest of the boys imprint? I'm the only female, aren't I? They'd end up with humans, how does that work? And even if they don't imprint, what if they fall in love? How would you explain that to someone? At least I found out my fate before I was too serious with anyone. I mean, at this point, I don't really know how to categorize Dominic. The tears started to sting again. Damn emotions. That's one of the things that I hate most about crying, once I start, it's hard to stop. I got up, irritated with lying around, and started cleaning. I guess it's one of my more productive bad habits. Once my room was practically remodeled, I settled on working on projects that I had been successfully avoiding. I guess my procrastination won again because I couldn't focus long enough to really do any of it and before I knew it, I was scanning the internet on my laptop.

Maybe now would be a good time for a bit of research. My mind kept springing back to Koda's words and my fingers worked faster than my mind did. When I came to, I was on a website that supposedly defined the process of animal imprinting. Okay so…according to all-knowing , there's filial imprinting and then there's sexual imprinting.

'**Sexual**** imprinting** is the process by which a young animal learns the characteristics of a desirable mate.'

I read and re-read the same sentence before going back to Google and looking for another research page. To Sparknotes I go.

'Most animals are not monogamous. In many species, males mate and leave, while the female raises the offspring. Many animals receive no parental care at all. If a young female is raised by her mother, with no father around, how can she learn to recognize potential future mates? Females learn to recognize what an appropriate mate should look like from their siblings or neighbors. Sexual imprinting is a general imprinting; it is not specific to individuals, only species typical characteristics. If a female were to imprint specifically on his sister, or vice versa, inbreeding would result, which reduces a population's fitness. The more general system of sexual imprinting allows young to learn to recognize potential mates without inbreeding.'

My heart had stopped once I read the first line. _'…males mate and leave'_. What if that's true for wolves? Reproducing was inevitable, but would he really leave after and leave me alone with our child? He wouldn't do that, right? I moved on to , praying for better news.

'**Sexual imprinting **is when the animal starts to develop sexual preferences towards the species that it imprinted on, instead of its own species.'

I stopped on the last five words. That doesn't make any sense. Keith and I are the same species. We're both wolves and humans, aren't we? I closed my computer and leaned back with my eyes closed. This doesn't make any sense. Why were Keith and I different? _Are_ we different? If imprinting occurs between different species then how do you explain us? And here I was thinking that it would be weird to imprint on a human when all along I'm the freak. Maybe my dad could tell me something about this. I mean, this whole wolf thing was on his side of the family. I sat up and pulled my legs to my chest. A chill went up my spine before I had the chance to stand up. I turned in time to see Keith standing at my glass door. Slowly, I opened it for him and retreated back to my bed. Seriously, does he transform into a stalker on the weekends? His nervousness made all of the mean thoughts run to the back of my mind as the worried ones took their places.

"I-I'm sorry for earlier."

This was all he said as he stood in the middle of my room slightly out of breath. For the first time in the short time that I had known him, he actually looked like a mess. He had only been gone for two or three hours and yet he looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

"Will you sit down? You're making me really paranoid," I nearly begged. He moved over to the chair that I had found him in this morning. "Are you okay?"

"I could lie and say yeah," he stated simply.

"I think you get why I got upset earlier," I said.

"I can't promise that I won't ever leave you. I'm not a fortune-teller, but I would never just 'knock you up' and run. I was raised better than that and I couldn't do that to you."

A nervous smile flashed as quickly as it disappeared from his face as my heart skipped a beat and my breathing grew just a tad louder. Every bit of me wanted to believe him, but there will always be that little insecure part of me that just believes that pretty much everything that I hear is a lie. Keith shifted uncomfortably in the chair, his eyes pointed towards the floor.

"I guess we don't really have much of a choice, do we?" I asked slowly, trying to hide the fear in my voice.

"We're still teenagers. We fight everything. Why should this be any different? Our future is our own, right?"

Awkwardly, a simple thought formed in my head, and though I was uncomfortable with the idea of it, my instincts kicked me in the gut, and I found it impossible to fight my voice.

"What if I'm not completely sure that I want to fight it?" I whispered. I expected him to freak out, but he stayed calm as always.

"I thought about that. We have a whole lifetime to figure that out. We don't have to decide anything now."

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"I'm sure you will whether I say yes or no."

"Why did you go all predator on Koda earlier? I know that you could hear us and it was pretty clear that I wasn't hurt, not physically anyway."

"Why wouldn't I? You were crying and he caused it. Being hurt mentally is still being hurt."

He looked away. Well he hadn't exactly been looking at me before but now it felt like he was purposefully avoiding my eyes. Yeah, he's blind, but I know that he knows where I am.

"You knew that I wasn't hurt."

"I couldn't know that for sure. What are you getting at with this?" he asked.

"I think you had more motive than you're telling. You could hear us. You know that we have a history."

I readjusted, trying to keep myself from remembering what I had fought so hard to forget.

"Was it really that bad?" he asked quietly. I guess that it would make him feel at least remotely better if I could tell him that sex with Koda was simply terrible, but it's obviously not that simple.

"It wasn't the sex that hurt, it was the aftermath."

"What do you mean?"

He moved forward in the chair, leaning his elbows on his knees. Great, I guess it's story time. "I was dating Dominic at the time and we had hit our first rough patch. Back then, before he left, I talked to Koda about any and everything. So, of course Koda and I talked… and drank. The talking was nothing out of the ordinary but the drinking was a first for me. Koda was a regular drinker, but not an alcoholic in any way. He didn't suggest drinking for me but I needed something to distract me for the night and that's exactly what I got.

"That night was a bit of a blur, but the next morning, all hell broke loose. Do you know how scary it is to wake up in a place that you don't recognize, and to have no idea of how you got there? It's a miracle that my parents didn't send a search party out for me. And in all honesty, I'd never been more upset than I was then. Things were awkward between me and Koda and my conscience wouldn't let me _not_ tell Dominic. Koda and I didn't talk for about three days after that and for a girl, sex is a scary thing to recover from as it is.

"I didn't know how to handle any of it. I was scared that I was pregnant. I thought that I had lost Dominic. And…I thought that I had lost my best friend. Now if it nearly killed me to lose him for three days, what do you think him disappearing for months did to me?"

I stopped finally, hugging my knees so tightly to my chest that I thought that they might snap. For the longest time, Keith just stared at me in shock. I forced out a shaky laugh. It was the best way that I could keep the rest of me under control. I sighed as we both turned to look at the door. He stood up and stepped through the glass door without another word. My mom was coming. I leaned back on my bed and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down a bit more before she walked in. She didn't bother to knock which should've been a sign in itself.

"Tell your friend to come back. We need to have a talk."

I just stared at her, but I didn't have to call Keith. He had heard her. He moved silently back to the glass as my mom left through my regular door. We stared at each other, nothing but glass and open space between us.

We walked down the stairs together. My mom had already gone ahead. I guess she sensed the awkwardness of having to walk with your forced first love and your mother.

"What do you think this is about?" he asked me in a voice so low that it took me a second to realize that he was talking to me. I smiled.

"What are you scared of meeting my dad?"

He knew what I was doing but that didn't seem to help as much as I would've hoped.

"I'm not your boyfriend, so no."

That hurt until he smiled and made me nearly fall down the stairs in shock. I think we just had a moment. I wasn't sure how to handle that.

"You realize that you're worse than a boyfriend where my dad is concerned, right?"

He sighed playfully. "I was really hoping that you wouldn't pick up on that. He knows that I'm your imprintee?"

We slowed down even more, in perfect sync, when we got to the door leading to the living room. We both took deep breaths and moved over to the couch. I sat at the farthest end and Keith seemed to finally settle on the recliner by the window. I noticed the half full glass of bourbon sitting on a coaster on the coffee table. This isn't going to be a fun talk.

"It's Keith, right?" my dad asked. Keith's posture didn't falter in the slightest. I guess there was just something about fathers and teenage boys that I wouldn't understand. Keith could kill my father in a matter of seconds and he knew it, but fear showed in Keith's eyes, not my father's. Well, I guess nervousness would be a better word for it. He had absolutely no reason to fear my father, but he definitely seemed to respect him.

"Yes sir," he answered. My dad readjusted in his seat, making me worry even more than before.

"Well, you need to go talk to your parents because we're all leaving today. Now, I'm not sure how much they know about what you are, but they're free to come along if they want."

Keith nodded. Why do I have the feeling that I'm the only one who doesn't know what's going on?

"I'm meeting _them_ today?" he asked my dad.

"The sooner the better, especially now that you've imprinted on my daughter. There are some things that you both need to know that I can't properly explain."

"Wait. Wait, who is _them_ and what are you talking about?" I finally asked. My dad looked at me as if he finally realized that I was in the room.

"That's not important right now. I need you to go and pack a bag for today and tomorrow while I talk to Keith. We'll be back by tomorrow night I would assume."

Confused, I stared at my dad for a quick second before heading back to the stairs. I made it to the top and stopped, but I was disappointed to hear the sound of the door opening and shutting followed by a car engine. Crystal ambushed me the second I made it to my room.

"So what's all of this about?" she asked.

"You're going?"

"Yep, Dad just told me to pack and nothing else. You don't know anything?"

"I wish I did."

The seating arrangement in the car was driving me insane. My parents were in the front, leaving Crystal between Keith and myself in the back. Our truck is spacious and all but I was feeling beyond claustrophobic and we had to keep the windows down to keep Crystal from dying of heat exposure. And yet, despite his inhuman body heat, Crystal didn't mind sitting so close to the blind giant. I plugged my ears with my headphones to drown out her interrogation of who he was to me and why she had never met him before today.

My dad shot glances at him constantly as if he was expecting Keith to slip up or do something that his fatherly senses wouldn't approve of. Earlier he had nearly treated him like his son, but now that there was only a seat between them and me only a foot or two away, he had switched over into father mode. I guess my dad didn't particularly want us alone together, but forcing us to ride along rather than letting us follow him in one of our cars seemed a bit extreme.

My mom, on the other hand, seemed a bit calmer around Keith than she had with just us lately. Maybe there was a certain vibe that he was sending or maybe she was comforted by the secret that everyone seemed to know but Crystal and me. I checked up on him every once in a while through the shade of my hair to see if he was still alive. He looked much more relaxed than I felt. Did he know where we were going? What did my dad say to him? Nearly thirty minutes into our ride, Crystal and my mom both fell asleep leaving the two wolves and the over protective father awake in a strange silence.

With Crystal perched against his arm, Keith fidgeted. His phone was vibrating. He sent it to voicemail and glanced at me, confirming that we both knew who had just called. I hadn't really considered it, but I'm pretty surprised that Erin hadn't tried calling him sooner. He leaned his head against the window and sighed. In that moment, he looked so tired that it almost made me want to cry. I felt the silent phone in my pocket and thought about Dominic. He hadn't called me since our fight this morning. I didn't mind the space, but it didn't help to know what I would have to do soon.

I guess I have it easier though. Dominic doesn't need me. He wants me, but doesn't need me and he's been a complete drunken ass since I changed. He's making it easier and easier for me to end it, but it's different for Keith. He'll always have that need to protect in him. He just may truly be in love with this girl but, at the same time, he can't explain what he has with me. I wanted to hug him, comfort him in some way, but considering the situation, that wasn't exactly possible. We rode in silence, most likely having some idea as to why the other looked so uncomfortable and my dad gave us our space, staring out the windshield in silence.

I tried to distract myself by focusing on how much louder my ipod sounded these days. I had it down almost as low as it would go and it flowed almost as if I were surrounded by speakers. I closed my eyes, enjoying the breeze that felt warm despite the fact that there were bits of ice and snow still visible on the grass that we were passing. My breathing slowed down and everything around me suddenly seemed so much warmer. I was slipping into a dream and there was nothing that I could do about it.

_Trees. There was nothing but trees and darkness around me. Why couldn't this be a happy dream without all the unnecessary mystery and fog? For the first time in a while, I felt cold, chilled as a matter of fact. I guess I was walking, because everything seemed to be moving slowly. There was a bush with a single rose, my rose. It was perfect and black with its curved stem just as it was on my back. Sitting, I stroked the closest petal and waited, for what, I'm not sure. I could see puffs of smoke that must've been coming from my nose or mouth as the sounds of my breathing started to make themselves known. But of course, I wasn't alone. Rustling and crackling started around me, but this was nothing new in my dreams. They didn't scare me anymore. _

_I looked to the trees to my left and waited for someone to appear. Usually it was either Keith or Jared but this face was new and breathtaking. He watched me and moved slowly and carefully as if he were the one that should be scared. I turned my head to the side and waited. Something was off though. I turned back to the bush and my rose was gone. He had it. He held it carefully as if his life depended on it. _

"_Who are you?" I whispered, and of course he said nothing. I really looked at him, taking in his features. There was no way that he was human, but nothing else seemed to fit either. I couldn't feel the heat from him like a wolf or the cold from a vampire. His scent was beautiful, but not like Keith's. It couldn't be described. It just was what it was. It wasn't sweet, but overpowering. It was woodsy, but not musky. His eyes were a deep green and his skin was a light brown, just a few shades darker than being deadly pale. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of tattered shorts. I couldn't see much of their design due to the darkness but they weren't important enough for me to really care. He had the usual muscular build, but from what I could see he wasn't tatted. There wasn't a single scar or scratch, just perfection. His black hair reached the bottom edge of his neck and was matted as if he had been running. _

_He sat close to me as if we weren't complete strangers and watched me as if we were lovers. My breath caught in my throat as he moved closer and moved my hair from my face. I guess my eyes closed as everything slowly slid to black. _

The last thing I saw was his eyes and the last thing I felt was his lips on mine as I slipped back into reality, chest heaving. I looked around and swallowed hard. The only thing that scared me about this dream was the fact that I was dying to know how it ended.


	14. Reunions

**Chapter 13**

**Reunions**

My dad pulled the truck into the airport parking lot and I woke up Crystal and Keith so that they could get their bags out. I stepped out of the car and nearly collapsed. My mind was awake but my body was still half numb from the long car ride. We all started walking together through the parked cars and slow moving bystanders. I guess it struck me as funny that Keith and I were the most dangerous things here. Usually this thought wouldn't be a big deal, but we were going into an airport, one of the most security-tight industries in America, and two of the country's most deadly, and undiscovered, weapons were just strolling into the front doors as if it were nothing.

I felt a tug on my strap that was so light that, for a second, I thought that I had imagined it. And sure as day, I turn around to see Keith watching me with one finger tucked around the back strap of my old duffel bag. I slowed down as we allowed a few feet between my family and ourselves. He draped his arm over my shoulder as if we were just your everyday couple. I guessed he had noticed the tons of people who took the time to stare as they passed by us. Maybe this was his attempt to be casual. He leaned in and my heart rate picked up.

"Are you okay?"

I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down. I was in no way used to him being this close to me for this long.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You were whining in your sleep."

I cursed myself in my head. If he had heard me then my dad probably did to.

"It was nothing, just another nightmare."

He pulled me a bit closer as a blonde girl passed with an expectant look directed at him. I wonder if Erin had to deal with this. I guess it would explain a tad bit more as to why she had been so bitchy when she saw me walking with her boyfriend. I was thankful that my dad hadn't looked back here. I'm not sure what's going on between Keith and him, but there's no telling as to how he would've reacted. We stopped at the metal detectors and started unloading everything metal that we had on us. We listened to the vibrations as the bucket of metal objects went through the scanner and the cops searched us with detection wand things.

I felt that irritating ping in my chest that was starting to pop up every time that I thought about Erin. I guess it was the more envious side of me and I just couldn't shake it. Ignore it as I may want to, there's really just no denying it. I was jealous of Erin. There was absolutely nothing positive about her as a person, from what I've seen, but I'm completely and overwhelmingly jealous.

"Why do you keep doing that?" I asked, as he sent her to voicemail yet again.

"Erin is a notoriously suspicious person. She doesn't like to accuse me, but she hates it when my phone's off."

"But-"

"I don't want to string her along, but there's no easy way of ending it with her either. I just want some time with her before this all takes over. The sooner I do it…hopefully the less she'll get hurt."

"Come on you two! We're going to miss our flight."

I shook my head disapprovingly at the irritating monster that is my little sister. Keith only smiled and led me to the rest of my family.

To some extent, I finally felt like I could relax once we got on the plane and into the air. My parents were two rows ahead of Keith and I and Crystal was behind us in a row by herself with her music playing. I smiled when I noticed that the words flowed clearly into my brain from her headphones. She'd never really been one to blast her music and I was quite sure that today wasn't any different. Keith seemed to be feeling the relaxation that I was newly thankful for as he leaned back in the plush seat and stretched his long legs. I crossed my legs and turned so that I was lying against my side and facing him. He simply watched me as if he could read my mind. I started playing with his fingers, surprised that he let me, and even more surprised that I wanted to. But overall, it felt natural and it didn't seem to cause any tension between us so I kept going, enjoying the feeling.

"That story that you told me, about Koda, did you ever question your time with Dominic after?"

The break in the silence surprised me but the question almost hurt. I looked up at his eyes only to retreat back to our hands. I flipped them over in mine, thinking about what he had just asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever wondered why you were with Dominic instead of Koda?"

"Yeah, I guess it's crossed my mind once or twice. Koda had been practically my brother before that night and after he kind of got demoted to being my best friend. Where are we going?"

"You don't know?" he asked, looking out past me through the window. Oh yeah, I had to score the window seat.

"I think it's pretty obvious at this point that I don't. And apparently, I'm the only one."

"No you're not. Crystal doesn't know either."

He smiled at himself. Stupid, secret-keeping dog. His nostrils flared slowly and not in the way that they do when a person is just breathing normally. He was sniffing something in particular.

"What is it?" I asked and had to keep myself serious despite the fact that I had just replayed a near perfect clip from Lassie in my head. He was my Lassie.

He leaned close to me and sniffed so simply that I couldn't feel or hear it. He whispered in my ear while he was still near it, "I don't know. It could be nothing."

Personally, I didn't want him to move, but he seemed pretty intent on this new smell. He turned casually and looked at the sleeping passenger beside us. He was positioned by the window with a jacket pulled up to his shoulders. Maybe it was cold on this flight, I couldn't really tell. He couldn't be much older than Keith or I, maybe nineteen at the oldest, with short, brown hair and a slightly lanky figure, or at least that's what I would guess by looking at his skinny legs, but you never know. Keith turned back to me.

"I don't know, maybe it's that guy's cologne or something."

Being this close to him, nothing else registered in my brain except for Keith's scent so I would just have to take his word for it. Not even a full minute later, my phone started vibrating. And of course, we both knew that it was Dominic. I opened my phone. Keith watched me.

"Are you going to answer it?" he asked in a slightly harsher tone than he had been using lately. I closed it and just stared at the now silent piece of whatever this phone was made of. It wasn't a huge deal. I've refused to answer the phone when Dominic called before. It was a pretty rare event, but it happened. And right when I was thinking this, I got a text message. He was so predictable. This is how he always acted when he screwed up or was coming off of a hangover, or both. I opened the phone back up and opened the message to read the words 'I'm sorry' with a picture of a teddy bear. Keith looked at the message and actually laughed a bit.

"That's cute," he murmured. I only sighed and leaned my head against the window. Before I could react, he grabbed my legs, turning me to face him, and laid them onto his. He stared at me perfectly seriously.

"Look, I know this is hard, and it's probably going to get worse. But it has to get worse before it can get better, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," I whispered. He smiled warmly and leaned farther back into his seat.

"Tell me something."

Okay, I can't lie. That simple statement of his made me nervous. He was so unpredictable and I had no choice but to be attracted to it. But something in me was telling me that it was becoming less about the imprinting, and more with how I felt towards him of my own free will, which I was really starting to miss. And for the next few hours on that plane, we talked. We didn't think about the rest of the world, or the vampires that wanted us dead, or what our future held for us. We just talked like two remotely normal people.

"Why couldn't we do this before?" I asked him, yawning. It was dark now and I had no clue of how much time we had left before we finally made it to wherever it was that we were headed. He noticed my exhaustion and I was sure that his eyelids were starting to get just as heavy as mine.

"Do what?"

"Just talk like this. We could never really do this until today."

We had moved the armrest between us hours ago so we had practically gravitated towards each other without really noticing or caring. I curled my legs up beside me and leaned into him and he didn't object but rather slipped his arm over me.

"I guess there was just too much in the way."

Anything after that was incoherent because the burn between us was strong enough to put us both to sleep. We had been aware of it this whole time but saw no need in mentioning it. It simply was what it was and we were learning to embrace it. I guess we don't have much of a choice where our future is concerned, but we can decide how we want to deal with it.

"_Who are you?" I asked. He didn't even bother to look at me. He was too busy turning my rose between his fingers. He started to pull off the petals and I stood up, walking away. Whether I was looking for something or just bored, I couldn't tell. The trees and darkness seemed more crowded and darker in comparison to the first time that I had this dream. The only noticeable difference was that now there was the sound and feel of snow being crunched under my feet…and I could actually feel the cold. _

_The farther I walked, the colder it seemed to get until I reached a point where snow was starting to drift down. The flakes actually lingered on my skin before disappearing. Somehow, I finally made it to a new clearing. This one was new to my dreams and beautiful in an almost eerie way. It was like my rose had multiplied and varied. Most were black, but among them were a few that donned a dark crimson. Here, the trees were taller and bore not a single leaf that I could see. I touched the one closest to me, half-expecting it to crumble in response, but there was nothing. Running my hand down the bark, there was no sound, but my nails left jagged lines the entire way and rather than giving me splinters, it only tickled. _

_All too quickly, I felt the feeling of a hand moving a bit of my hair behind my shoulder and a voice whispering, "Faites vous m'aimez?"_

Do you love me? _I turned around so that I could see the stranger but he was nowhere to be found. When I turned back, Keith was there. Everything seemed to slow down and the silence seemed to get louder as a sound caught my attention: a heart beating. I shifted my weight and the stranger turned me around. This time he didn't speak. He simply broke the stem off of my rose and stripped the remaining thorns before putting it behind my ear into my hair. He kissed my cheek and I closed my eyes, listening to the beautiful rhythm. It wasn't coming from him though. In fact, there was nothing coming from the mystery man. There was no scent, no warmth, no chill, no heartbeat…no life. _

_However, there _was_ warmth here and there _was_ a heartbeat to be heard. I could tell that I wasn't hearing mine, but it vibrated in my ears as if it were. Everything just seemed to get warmer and warmer until I finally opened my eyes to see Keith inches away from me. I looked back and the man was gone yet again. Keith stared at me with true fear and it was…amazing. His skin practically glowed in the moonlight and his scent was stronger to me. I touched my hand to his chest and his heart beat even harder through my fingertips. _

_His eyes were brighter and paler with the terror that they held and somehow he seemed more beautiful because of it. I reached up and kissed him, but not on the lips, instead on his jaw line. He shivered and shook as my hand moved from his chest to the opposite side of his neck. I moved carefully and my lips felt what my hands couldn't as they both searched for the same thing. Something like a whimper made its way past his lips. He had a better idea of what was going on than I did. But whatever was happening, it wasn't good._

_My eyes widened and I stopped at the back of his jaw, where they told us that the pulse was located in elementary school. My lips parted…_

"_Please," he whispered. _

"_I love you," said the voice that didn't rightfully belong to me. The deep breath that he took before my teeth forced their way through the soft flesh changed instantly into a gasp. He trembled and my grip tightened on his neck. I couldn't taste it. His blood was flowing perfectly fine and oh-so warm, but I couldn't taste it and I think that that made my dream self more desperate for it. The more that was taken from him, the colder he felt to me. I pulled away only for a second as he dropped to his knees and fell onto his side. Watching his eyes, I ran my hands up his chest. His heart was still beating and he was barely breathing. I crawled on top of him and in his ear whispered, "Je vous aimerai toujours." _

Everything blurred and I was blinded with the sun pushing its way through the window across the aisle. It seemed like the kid had picked a new position to sleep in as his long legs took advantage of the seat beside him. Remembering what I was doing here and my nightmare, I looked up at Keith, alive, still asleep, and with his arm still around me. Throwing my hand over my mouth, I slipped out of his grip and ran too fast down the aisle into the small bathroom. I tried to stay quiet, but my stomach had other plans for me. It felt clenched and like it was eating away at itself, and up until this point, I hadn't realized that I was hungry, but with everything in my stomach now in this toilet thing, and the knowledge of the fact that I hadn't eaten anything for the entire flight, my stomach growled and gurgled out of hunger, pain, and queasiness.

All the while, my rose had started burning again, but there was a new burn following it now. After my stomach had lurched yet again, I stood up and took my shirt off to examine my back, but I paused once I saw my front. My stomach was more developed than it had been last week, but even more distracting was the stem and thorns that were on my chest. I turned, looking for the source even though I knew perfectly well where it had come from. My rose had changed again. The petals were spread out even further now and the stem of it curved under my arm and up onto my chest pointing directly to my heart. I turned again and saw that the rose wasn't alone anymore. There was a new bud symmetrical in placement to where the first one had started.

I threw my shirt back on and bit my lip, refusing to scream as the pain got worse. Damn it! As if the first rose wasn't bad enough! Now it's growing even more and it has a brother. Slowly the pain subsided and my stomach relaxed partially. Once my face was rinsed and I was calm, I went back to find my toothbrush and paste.

"Hey. You okay?" Keith asked as I went and sat back down beside him. I fought to push the nightmare to the back of my mind before answering. Of course, my new tat did was a pretty good distraction.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked. He stretched his arms and legs.

"Sure."

"Has your tat ever changed?"

I picked my legs up, wrapping my arms around them as he stared in my area with a confused look on his face.

"Sure, I guess," he said, smiling sarcastically.

"Be serious."

"I am."

I sighed with a mix of amusement, frustration, and sympathy. "Fine, did the burning stop?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's a paw print. I don't really think that there's really anything else that it could be. Why?"

I took a deep breath and thought about pulling down the neckline of my t-shirt to show him but then realized why that wouldn't have much effect.

"My rose kind of came with attachments."

"What?"

"The stem has gotten longer and now there's a new rose starting to grow on the other side."

_We will be landing in the Quebec airport momentarily. Please prepare for landing and buckle your seatbelts. _

Quebec? Why are we in Canada? Clicking filled the air as people followed the intercom's directions, and we were filing off minutes later. I followed my parents as they walked to the baggage area and then out of the crowded airport. My mom handed me one of my old coats as we stood on the sidewalk. This confused me. She knows that I don't really get cold anymore, but I turned to see that Keith was wearing one and it suddenly clicked. To normal people, it was freezing here and we didn't need to draw attention to ourselves by strolling around in over a foot of snow in t-shirts and jeans.

A sparkling black Escalade Raven pulled up to the curve and we all turned to my dad.

"It's a rental," he murmured, starting to pile bags in the trunk. I think all of our hearts dropped at that moment…just a bit at least. It was a really nice car. A _really_ nice car. We piled in and a bit of me relaxed into the plush leather, but it took a lot of effort to finally settle my sore back against the seat. Crystal was seated between us yet again and she and Keith both managed to notice my strain.

"Are you okay?" they both asked. I looked between the two of them. I have to admit, their timing was just a little strange. I cracked my back and felt a twinge of a burn. At this point, it was more numbing than unbearable.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little stiff."

I noticed my mom glance over at my dad before she readjusted in her seat. This was all still a lot for her, that much was obvious. But all in all, she really seemed to be handling it all a lot better these days. I sank even further into the seat and closed my eyes, picturing what I had seen on my skin. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty and all but it had to mean something, right? I was really starting to think that the rose was done. Am I really still changing? And was I changing enough to really need a second one?

As eerie as it is, I'm pretty sure that the rose was still bleeding, and now the blood looked like it was dripping where my heart beat. Somewhere along the point of my fears of what was to come and the random pain that had started to spread through my entire torso, I managed to slip out of consciousness yet again and opened my eyes to see that we were parking in a small driveway connected to a familiar house. Were we really where I thought that we were? I mean, it has been a while since I've seen her, I could be wrong. Without fully realizing it, my legs had pulled me out of the car and I was strolling to the simple two-story building with the snow-covered, little step of a porch. A woman who could pass for no younger than forty opened the door.

"_Grand-mere_?" I whispered.


End file.
